New Development on Kosovo Crisis 　　*The Contact Group on former Yugoslavia met again in London on January 29, expected to urge both sides in the warring Yugoslav province of Kosovo to hold peace talks as soon as possible. 　　Foreign ministers from Britain, the United States, France, Germany, Italy and Russia might issue a statement demanding autonomy for Kosovo and making clear their decision not to allow the region to descend into a full-scale war. 　　British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said before the meeting that the West was prepared to underpin an agreement on self-rule for Kosovo by deploying ground troops, but only if the warring parties signed up a political process. 　　"We are only going to commit ground troops if there is a commitment to a political process. Nobody is going to commit ground troops in the context of a continuing war and a crumbling ceasefire," Cook said.. 　　"We are very intent on getting this thing done," Albright told reporters on her arrival. 　　Representatives from the six nations met last Friday in London to discuss the situation in Kosovo but failed to reach any fixed agreement. 　　* France and Britain said on January 28 they were prepared to send ground troops to Kosovo to support any peace deal reached in the turbulent Serbian province of former Yugoslavia. 　　The two countries "are willing to consider all forms of military action necessary to accompany the implementation of a negotiated agreement," British Prime Minister Tony Blair and French President Jacques Chirac said in a joint statement issued in London. 　　"If an early political agreement proves impossible, the two (French and British) leaders believe that all options will need to be considered," the statement said. 　　It was reported here that British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook was likely to fly to Belgrade on Saturday to personally present Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic with the Contact Group's proposals. 　　"It is time to start talking and stop fighting. We intend to summon the parties and make them confront their responsibilities to the people of Kosovo," Cook said earlier in a statement. 　　"Our aim is intense negotiations, with international involvement, within days rather than weeks. We will ensure these talks do not drag on -- we must see rapid progress towards a lasting settlement in Kosovo," Cook's statement said. 　　* The United States on Thursday reinforced the threat of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to use force in Kosovo even as it promised to keep pressing both sides for a political settlement. 　　If Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic continued to refuse to withdraw his forces from the southern Serbian province, "those threats may become very real", said White House spokesman Joe Lockhart. 　　"We think that it's very important that we move towards an interim settlement that will end the fighting and move towards self-rule in Kosovo," Lockhart said at a White House briefing. 　　"We'll continue to, on the diplomatic track, put pressure on Milosevic and the Kosovo Albanians to reach an agreement. But we will also continue on the NATO track to use the credible threat of force to make him comply with the agreements he made in October," he added. 　　At the State Department, spokesman James Foley also stressed the diplomatic effort was backed by force. 　　"We believe that by marrying an accelerated diplomatic effort with a willingness to back that effort with NATO's capabilities, it will be possible to achieve a negotiated settlement to this conflict," said Foley. 　　Earlier on Thursday, NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana warned of a "critical turning point" and admonished the warring parties to begin peace talks immediately or face allied military action. 　　The NATO chief said in a statement that NATO "stands ready to act and rules out no option". 　　Secretary of State Madeleine Albright will meet in London with other representatives of the six-nation Contact Group, made up of the United States, Russia, France, Britain, Germany and Italy, on efforts to bring peace to Kosovo. 　　* NATO reaffirms, Solana said, its support to international efforts to bring peace to Kosovo and to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe there. NATO supports the efforts by the United Nations Security Council, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the European Union, the countries in the region and the Contact Group, the NATO chief said. 　　"NATO stands ready to act and rules out no option to ensure full respect by both sides of the demands of the international community, and in particular observance of all relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions," added Solana. 　　The Western military alliance has decided to increase its military preparedness to ensure that the demands of the international community are met. 　　The Contact Group members --the United States, Russia, Britain, France, Germany and Italy -- are scheduled to meet Friday in London and are expected to issue an ultimatum of its own, laying down its demands for the conflicting parties in Kosovo. 　　The North Atlantic Council, the decision-making body of NATO, will follow the developments in Kosovo and decide accordingly on future measures in the light of both parties' compliance with international commitments and requirements, said the NATO chief.. 　　Addressing the NATO council, Annan said, "The bloody wars of the last decade have left us with no illusions about the difficulty of halting internal conflicts -- by reason or by force -- particularly against the wishes of the government of a sovereign state. 　　"But nor have they left us with any illusions about the need to use force, when all other means have failed. We may be reaching that limit, once again, in the former Yugoslavia." 　　NATO observers here believed that Annan's speech sounded like a verbal support for actions on the part of those that have the capabilities to do so. 　　NATO is waiting for the Contact Group to formulate a time table for the demanded start of the political negotiation between the conflicting parties in Kosovo. 　　Some people suggested that the deadline might be between 10 days and three weeks after the issuance of the Contact Group final warning. 　　NATO threatened with the use of force last year as a backup for diplomatic efforts coping with the Kosovo crisis and the Western military alliance later ordered an air strike against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia without the mandate of the United Nations Security Council. It later halted the operation but kept the air strike order in abeyance so as to revert to military intervention if it sees fit. WorldNews 1999-01-30 Page3 Full Story in Chinese