NATO FLEXES MUSCLE TO WARN YUGOSLAVIA.

Byline: Arlinda Causholli Associated Press 

NATO fighter jets thundered over the rugged mountains along the border with Yugoslavia's Kosovo province Monday in a rigidly choreographed show of force meant to pressure Yugoslav forces to end their attacks on ethnic Albanians in the province.

The United States and 12 other nations took part in the exercise, which had planes skimming the rooftops of Tirana, the capital of Albania, and coming within 10 miles of the border with Kosovo.

The mock air raids, involving 85 aircraft, elated American pilots but disappointed refugees from Kosovo in Albanian border towns, such as Padesh, who said much more is needed to keep Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic from driving them out of their homes.

Milosevic's Serb-led forces hardly paused in their offensive against ethnic Albanian separatists in Kosovo, reportedly attacking four villages with helicopter gunships, grenades and heavy shelling Monday. The report from the Albanians' Kosovo Information Center could not be independently confirmed, because the area is closed to journalists.

The maneuvers ``are only a signal and nothing else,'' said Hivzi Hysa, a Kosovo refugee who trekked over the mountains to safety in the Albania. ``Signals are not enough to stop the violence in Kosovo.''

After the display of air power, President Clinton called Boris Yeltsin in hope the Russian president somehow could persuade Milosevic, who is in Moscow for two days of talks, to stop his offensive.

Moscow is expected to join Western powers in criticizing the heavy hand Milosevic has used in putting down an ethnic Albanian uprising, although Yeltsin disagrees with NATO over its handling of the Kosovo crisis and Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev publicly complained that Russia had not been adequately briefed on the air exercise Monday.

Milosevic's army and police have cracked down on dissent in Kosovo province, where ethnic Albanians outnumber Serbs by a 9-to-1 margin. More than 300 people have been killed since March and about 65,000 have been forced to leave their homes.

Western leaders want to halt the violence but do not support the separatist Kosovo Liberation Army, which is fighting for Kosovo's independence.

The show of air power Monday played out over two of Yugoslavia's neighbors, Albania and Macedonia, that gave permission. Staying at least 10 miles away from Yugoslav territory, the fighter jets and spy planes soared high above the mountains and forests.

Aircraft in the NATO operation, dubbed Determined Falcon, started taking off at 7:50 a.m. local time from bases in Italy, Greece, France, Germany, Britain and the Adriatic Sea. Support planes, including refueling tankers, already were in the air.

``It was outstanding,'' Capt. Bryan Johnson said after he climbed down from his sleek, gray F-16 at Italy's Aviano Air Base. ``I think we demonstrated the ability to project power on short notice.''

NATO officials were prepared for a Serb military response against the planes, but none came. Serb officials in Kosovo would not even comment on the NATO display, but Kosovo villagers noticed their reaction.

``The Serbs are angry because of the NATO maneuvers,'' said Xhem Shehu, 34, a refugee from Junik who arrived in Padesh. ``That's why the Serb infantry and their helicopters followed us up to the border.''

Shehu said about 3,000 Kosovo refugees had been hiding for two weeks in the mountains along the border with Albania, but Serb forces tracked them down with helicopters.

About 400 Kosovo refugees poured into Padesh on Monday after a seven-hour hike. Most of them were elderly people and women with babies.

The other Kosovo refugees still are trapped in the mountains, Shehu and others said, because Serbs are now patrolling some of the goat paths that refugees have taken to cross the border.

Although their country gave permission, the NATO warplanes startled some residents in the Albanian capital of Tirana.

``I thought the war started,'' said Vjollca Beja, 37, who ran with her 4-year-old son to take refuge in a shop, unaware that the NATO aircraft were no threat to Albanians.

All NATO members sent aircraft except Iceland and Luxembourg, which have no air forces, and Canada, which could not deploy aircraft to Europe on such short notice.

The air exercise was ordered by NATO defense ministers, who also asked military planners to look at a wide range of options for the future, possibly including direct intervention in Yugoslavia with air and ground forces.

Milosevic revoked Kosovo's broad autonomy in 1989 in an attempt to suppress the Albanian independence movement.

But since the crackdown started this spring, the Kosovo Liberation Army has grown more popular. It now controls an estimated 40 percent of the province.

CAPTION(S):

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Map: Areas of latest Serbian police/ethnic Albanian violence in Kosovo province.

Associated Press