World

Serbs Invite Annan To Yugoslavia

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

October 1, 1998 / 7:45 PM EDT / CBS

Yugoslavia's Serb leadership is hoping a visit from U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan would help stave off threatened NATO attacks.

The government-run news agency offered up the invitation Friday, saying a visit would help Annan understand "the real situation in Kosovo." The invitation comes days before Annan is due to submit a report to the Security Council on a resolution essentially demanding Serbs end violence in the Kosovo province.

Government forces are suspected in the latest in a series of ethnic Albanian massacres. Serbia denies any role in the attacks, and says it's willing to have international experts investigate

Spurred by pictures of atrocities apparently committed by Serb forces against civilians, the U.S. and its NATO allies have accelerated preparations for making good on their oft-repeated, but never delivered, threats of air strikes.

"The wanton violence of the massacre has certainly made people realize that we can't wait much longer," said Pentagon spokesman Ken Bacon.

NATO called on its members to contribute aircraft and weapons to strikes against Serb military targets, not just in Kosovo but throughout Yugoslavia, reports CBS News National Security Correspondent David Martin.

Meanwhile, the president's top national security advisers went to Capitol Hill in an 11th hour effort to drum up political support.

At the U.N., the Security Council met in emergency session to condemn the atrocities. Annan worked up a report on whether Serb President Milosevic has complied with a demand to call off his offensive against ethnic Albanians.

Milosevic has declared a cease-fire, but the ethnic Albanians and the U.S. say the fighting is not yet over.

"The various claims of the Serb authorities that the offensive and the use of brutal force in Kosovo have stopped are blatantly untrue," said State Department spokesman James Rubin.

However, intelligence sources say the fighting does appear to be winding down, mainly because Milosevic has accomplished his goal, which was to rout the guerrillas fighting for independence and intimidate the ethnic Albanians who support them.

Pentagon officials do not expect NATO to make a decision to launch air strikes until the middle of next week. By then, Milosevic may have backed off enough to avoid them. But for now, Milosevic is thought to be cutting it close, and leaving very little margin for error.