PEACE DEAL FINALLY SIGNED; NATO BOMBING TO END ONCE SERBS START LEAVING.

Byline: Lori Montgomery, John Donnelly and Richard Parker Knight Ridder Newspapers

Declaring an end to fighting in Kosovo, NATO and Yugoslav military commanders signed an agreement Wednesday that calls for all Serb troops to leave the devastated province and all routed ethnic Albanians to return home.

NATO's bombs could stop by this morning, if the Serb troops start leaving. International troops prepared to enter Kosovo, and U.S. Marines were landing in Greece today, on their way toward the province.

``It means that the war ended,'' Yugoslav Col. Gen. Svetozar Marjanovic said Wednesday night at this military base.

On NATO's 78th and perhaps final day of bombing, the alliance's officials turned their attention overnight for signs that Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic had ordered a full withdrawal from Kosovo of 40,000 Yugoslav military and police forces, as well as the special police who were known as the worst offenders in the violent spree to drive ethnic Albanians from the Serb province. The Serbs have 11 days to pull out all their troops, an extension of four days from NATO's original demands.

``If the Serbs live up to what they have signed, this will end the killing and begin the peace,'' said Defense Secretary William Cohen, adding that the agreement ``meets all of NATO's demands.''

The cease-fire in Kosovo took effect immediately, and the agreement calls for the first Serb troops to leave the province within 24 hours, by 3:05 p.m. EDT today.

``I would not be surprised'' at a bombing pause early today, said Undersecretary of Defense Walter Slocombe, ``if we see clear indications that they are moving out and the fighting has stopped.''

Once the bombing stops, the U.N. Security Council is expected to take up a resolution outlining the steps to end the war. The Security Council is expected to pass the measure - the Chinese government signaled late Wednesday that it would not veto the resolution, perhaps clearing the way for a 15-0 vote. The first international peacekeepers would then enter what remains of Kosovo - possibly as early as the weekend.

`Immediate' deployment

NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana told reporters in Brussels, Belgium, where the North Atlantic Council approved the military agreement, that peacekeeper troops could enter Kosovo ``almost immediately'' once NATO commanders verified withdrawal of Serb troops.

In Macedonia, 17,500 British, French and German troops stand ready. The British troops likely would be the first, their mission to seize the high ground along the main road from Skopje, Macedonia, to Pristina, Kosovo's provincial capital, in order to protect NATO troops from snipers.

Following these soldiers will be 1,900 U.S. Marines from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, based at Camp Lejeune, N.C., and 1,700 U.S. Army troops now moving to the Macedonian border from Albania.

The Clinton administration has committed 7,000 American soldiers as part of a 50,000-troop peacekeeping force.

In Washington, President Clinton released a brief statement saying he was pleased with the agreement. He carefully characterized it not as the end of war, but as ``another important step toward achieving our objectives in Kosovo.''

Clinton said the agreement guarantees that the international force will have ``NATO at its core, which means a unified NATO chain of command.''

NATO, he said, ``will watch carefully to see whether the Serb forces are peacefully leaving Kosovo in accordance with the agreed timetable.''

Clinton warns KLA 

Clinton also made a pointed statement toward the ethnic Albanian guerrilla force inside Kosovo that is fighting for independence: ``We have made clear to the leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army that we expect them not to hinder the Serb withdrawal.''

The seven-page agreement between the NATO and Yugoslav militaries gave specific details on the withdrawal of Belgrade's 3rd Army and Interior Ministry forces.

Serb troops in the north must withdraw first. Six days later, troops from southern areas bordering Macedonia and the area surrounding Pristina were to leave. Nine days later, on June 18, troops from the eastern and western halves of Kosovo were to depart.

As the troops withdraw, the agreement allows the international force to take control of Kosovo's borders.

By 3:05 p.m. EDT today, Belgrade's aircraft will be forbidden over Kosovo and the peacekeepers will take control of the airspace. Within three days, all aircraft, radar, surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft artillery must leave the province and a 15-mile buffer zone around it.

Yugoslavia also must provide the international forces with maps and descriptions of all mines, unexploded ordnance and booby traps in the province in the next two days. NATO estimates that the Serbs have seeded the province with millions of mines, capable of maiming peacekeepers and civilians alike.

If Serb forces fail to adhere to the timetable, bombing would resume, Cohen said.

NATO's representative, British Lt. Gen. Sir Michael Jackson, strode to a microphone, statement in hand.

``It has not been easy going,'' he said of the talks, blaming ``political as well as military'' roadblocks.

Peace parameters set

The agreement, he said, ``details how the army, the interior police and all other forces should conduct a phased, verifiable and orderly withdrawal from Kosovo. It also provides a clear legal basis for the deployment of the international security force'' into the province ``to establish a secure environment in Kosovo.''

Jackson left without taking questions from reporters. As his Yugoslav counterpart, Col. Gen. Svetozar Marjanovic, began speaking, Jackson's helicopter lifted into the air, making reporters strain to hear the Yugoslav officer and delivering a message that the victor would not show respect to the vanquished.

Marjanovic, in a viewpoint designed mainly for a Serbian audience, said the talks were done ``under the auspices of the United Nations,'' an important point because Yugoslav leaders do not want to be portrayed as capitulating to NATO.

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PHOTO (color) Lt. Gen. Sir Michael Jackson, NATO commander in Macedonia, speaks Wednesday.

Brennan Linsley/Associated Press