Yugoslavian President Slobodan Milosevic Wednesday blamed the U.N. Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and the international peace-keeping force (KFOR) for failure to protect Serbs and other non-Albanian civilians in the Serbian province of Kosovo.

"The international community has been let down by UNMIK and KFOR," Milosevic was quoted by Tanjug as saying. He made the statement at a meeting of the General Staff of the Armed Forces.

"Backed by UNMIK and KFOR's appeasement policy, Albanian extremists continue conducting violent acts against Kosovo non- Albanians in spite of the international civilian and military presence in Kosovo," Milosevic noted. "Apparently, UNMIK and KFOR are carrying out the hegemonism policy of the U.S. under a U.N. flag."

The Yugoslavian President then urged an immediate replacement of KFOR with Yugoslavian police and armed forces in order to safeguard all ethnic groups in Kosovo.

Recalling the heroic performance made by the armed forces during NATO's air-strike campaign last year, Yugoslavian General Chief of Staff Nebojsha Pavkovic said that during the most serious test since World War Two, the armed forces had fought up with laudable patriotism and had collected valuable experience.