PEACE IS AT HAND; MILOSEVIC ACCEPTS INTERNATIONAL PLAN.

Byline: Steven Erlanger The New York Times

On the 72nd day of NATO's air war against Yugoslavia, President Slobodan Milosevic on Thursday accepted an international peace plan to end the Kosovo conflict and allow nearly 1 million ethnic Albanian refugees to return to what is left of their homes.

After forcing most of those refugees to flee from Kosovo and enduring thousands of Serbian military and civilian deaths, Milosevic and the Serbian Parliament agreed rapidly to all key NATO demands after emissaries from Russia and Europe brought what they made clear was the best offer he was going to get from NATO.

In a swift retreat that could spell political trouble for him, Milosevic agreed to withdraw all Yugoslav military and police forces from Kosovo within seven days and allow 50,000 foreign troops under a U.N. flag - many of them from NATO and under NATO command - to police the province.

That withdrawal could begin as early as Sunday, said Goran Matic, a minister in the Yugoslav government, once military leaders of both sides agreed on the details for the hand-over. What is important for Belgrade is that the Kosovo Liberation Army not be allowed to fill the vacuum and flood into Kosovo, he said, and that NATO keep its commitment to ``demilitarize'' the KLA.

While NATO has emphasized the need for a strong force to prevent the Yugoslav president from reneging on his commitments, Yugoslav officials and some Western diplomats here believe its real difficulties will come from the KLA, which it has tried to use as a proxy army and is unlikely to give up its ambitions for independence.

Initial public reactions in the West, which appeared to be taken by surprise by the sudden fact of its victory, were cautious, and it was not immediately clear when or even through what means the conflict will be brought to a conclusion. Western spokesmen said the Serbs must begin a ``credible and verifiable withdrawal'' from Kosovo before the bombs would stop, but NATO's bombing campaign slackened noticeably Thursday.

Russia acted for Belgrade

The peace proposals were negotiated between NATO and Russia, acting for Belgrade. Once the Russian envoy, Viktor Chernomyrdin, finally agreed on the basics of the deal with the U.S. deputy secretary of state, Strobe Talbott, Milosevic clearly felt he had no choice but to accept them or endure further destruction his forces could not prevent.

Under the proposals, fewer than 1,000 Serbian personnel will be allowed to re-enter Kosovo, to guard key border posts and Serbian holy sites, as a symbol of Serbian and Yugoslav sovereignty over the southern province. But there will be little substance left to Belgrade's assertion of sovereignty. Kosovo will get ``substantial autonomy'' within Yugoslavia, but for all intents and purposes, will have little to do with the Serb or Yugoslav state.

An interim international authority will supervise the running of Kosovo and the establishment of new democratic institutions and elections, the return of all refugees and the rebuilding of the province. In the meantime, there will be new negotiations between Serbian and ethnic Albanian leaders to work out a long-term political settlement.

But in what Belgrade pointed to as a victory, the proposals accepted Thursday do not include a new examination of Kosovo's sovereignty after three years or any referendum on that topic, as did the draft proposals accepted in March in Rambouillet, France, by the Albanian side only. It was the Serbian refusal to accept those accords that led to the opening of the NATO air campaign March 24, the sharp acceleration in the Serbian effort to push the Albanians out of Kosovo and the tidal wave of refugees into surrounding countries.

Criticism of deal

Yugoslav officials also said their resistance had forced NATO to find a solution within the United Nations and with the participation of the Russians. And they emphasized the firm international guarantees of Serbia's sovereignty over Kosovo, unlike the temporary sovereignty proposed under Rambouillet.

But there was also important nationalist criticism of Milosevic and this deal. The Radical Party and its leader, Deputy Prime Minister Vojislav Seselj, voted against the proposals in Parliament, and Seselj vowed to quit the government the day NATO troops enter Kosovo.

The former president of Yugoslavia, the nationalist historian Dobrica Cosic, called the vote ``an extorted decision,'' and the proposals ``a post-modernist packaging for the occupation of Kosovo.'' In an interview, Cosic, whose views on Kosovo carry much weight here, called the Parliament's acceptance ``a matter of survival, and not a matter of freedom and rights.''

But there was no immediate political threat to Milosevic. The weak democratic opposition parties supported the move toward peace, and Vuk Draskovic, who was fired as Yugoslav deputy prime minister during the war, praised the vote and said he would be willing to rejoin the government, especially if Seselj quits.

Some confusion remains over who will lead the international force and over its exact makeup. The Russians are still insisting that their forces going to Kosovo will not be under NATO command, and they have not yet agreed to send troops. The agreement accepted by Milosevic says the forces will be under the auspices of the United Nations, but European and American officials say the troops will in fact be commanded by NATO.

But the deal might finally bring some peace, if not reconciliation, to Kosovo. A year ago, the province contained some 2.2 million people, about 90 percent of them ethnic Albanians.

Details of the plan

Key points of the Kosovo peace plan approved by the Serb government and parliament on Thursday.

An end to the fighting in Kosovo.

A quick and verifiable withdrawal of Yugoslav and Serb forces from Kosovo, after which NATO will halt the airstrikes that began March 24.

Deployment to Kosovo of a security force ``with essential NATO participation'' - shorthand for a NATO-dominated, well-armed peacekeeping force.

The safe and free return of all 850,000-plus ethnic Albanian refugees expelled, mostly to Albania and Macedonia, since March.

''Substantial autonomy'' for Kosovo.

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

PHOTO Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, right, consults with Serbian President Milan Milutinovic during a meeting Thursday with Russian special envoy Viktor Chernomyrdin and Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari in Belgrade.

Associated Press 

Box: Details of the plan (see text)