The UN Security Council yesterday strongly condemned the recent atrocities in Kosovo and called on the Yugoslav President, Mr Slobodan Milosevic, to investigate, identify and punish those responsible for carrying them out.
The Security Council expressed "considerable alarm" that fighting in Kosovo was continuing despite the council's demand last week for a ceasefire, according to the British ambassador to the UN, Mr Jeremy Greenstock, who is the Security Council's current president.
Both the Security Council and NATO were looking to a report by the Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, due on Monday, to identify Serb compliance with the September 23rd UN resolution that demanded a ceasefire and a political settlement between the two sides.
International efforts to end the seven-month conflict gained momentum this week with reports that Serb police massacred dozens of ethnic Albanian civilians southwest of the provincial capital, Pristina.
In Washington the Secretary of State, Ms Madeleine Albright, said that NATO was "prepared to act" to halt the violence in Kosovo. She was speaking after meeting - together with the Defence Secretary, Mr William Cohen, and the National Security Adviser, Mr Samuel Berger - US senators to discuss possible NATO military action in Kosovo.
Ms Albright reiterated US concern over the humanitarian situation in the Serbian province and said that Washington still favoured a diplomatic solution, but added that a military option was available. "The combination of the threat of the use of force with diplomacy" was the best approach, she said.
After its emergency session yesterday the Security Council did not warn of any new measures - in spite of NATO preparations for air strikes - but demanded compliance with previous resolutions. Neither did the UN body directly condemn the Serbs for the massacres, saying only that it condemned "those responsible" for the atrocities.
In discussions with Security Council members Russia has indicated that it wants more information on the massacres before assigning blame to the Serbs, according to UN diplomats. That position, expected to be supported by China, thwarted British efforts to condemn the Serbs directly for the atrocities.
Russia and China have flatly rejected the use of force to end the conflict between Serb forces and ethnic Albanians, who make up 90 per cent of the southern Serb province and are fighting for independence.
NATO's decision-making body, however, took another step yesterday to prepare air strikes against Serb forces. The North Atlantic Council approved an "activation request" for the 16-member alliance to formally commit warplanes and other forces for an eventual air campaign, diplomats said.
There were claims yesterday of another Kosovo massacre and reports of heavy fighting along the border with Albania. The ethnic Albanian-run Kosovo Information Centre claimed that the bodies of 12 males, including a 15-year-old boy, were discovered in the Suva Reka region, about 30 miles southwest of Pristina.