Against this backdrop, President Rugova pressed for an urgent international intervention, adding that only the deployment of NATO troops in Kosova, as envisioned by the Rambouillet Accords, would calm the situation and provide peace and security for all the people in Kosova.

The Kosova leader welcomed the U.S. commitment to Kosova, and expressed appreciation for the U.S. House of Representatives' resolution approving the deployment of U.S. troops in Kosova.

We have all agreed to sign the Rambouillet deal, President Ibrahim Rugova said, in reply to a question regarding the position of the UÇK on this.

Our delegation had asked for some time to consult the people of Kosova about the agreement negotiated in France, Rugova said.

What I can say is that we were ready to sign the agreement then, but the Serbian side was "rigid, not at all flexible" and not ready to sign, he added.

"None can play with the fate of Kosova - neither the President, nor the Parliament, nor the UÇK", President Ibrahim Rugova said, in reply to a question. He pressed on all groups participating in the Kosova delegation to act responsibly, "differently" from how some of them have been doing so far, as he put it. The situation is so difficult, so we cannot afford to have other days lost, he added. Therefore, "we hope this agreement will be signed soon and positive steps start - NATO troops be deployed and security created for all the citizens of Kosova but also this part of Europe", President Ibrahim Rugova said.

He said that 90 percent of the people of Kosova is supportive of the agreement. "The UÇK has likewise supported it."

The situation we have had in the past three weeks is detrimental to the talks and prospects for peace, President Rugova said, emphasizing that the agreement, once it is concluded, will have ended "this negative trend, the painful and tragic situation in Kosova".

Serbs shelled Albanian villages from their positions in Frashër i Vogël and Pirq. There has been no immediate word on casualties or the damages.

Serbian forces resumed shelling the five villages today at 10:00 CET.

The Vërrini villages were attacked by Serbian forces on Thursday. A heavy Serbian buildup was reported there today, too.

The bodies of three killed Albanians have been taken to the Prizren town morgue. Asllan Krasniqi (62) was found killed in Hoçë e Qytetit, Muharrem Hysenaj (35), resident of Reçan village of Suhareka, was found killed near Prizren. The third man has not been identified yet.

Serb police entering Jeshkovë village said they had found three killed Albanians there, OSCE sources were quoted as saying.

Another Albanian was found killed today in Lybeçevë village. It is supposed that he is Shemsedin Thaçi (22), resident of Kushtendil village. Three men of Lybeçevë have been reported missing.

PRISHTINA, March 12 (KIC) - Fresh Serb troops and armor, including five tanks, entered Vushtrri at 6:00 CET today. An hour and half later, 20 other Serb vehicles trailing combat equipment moved in there, local LDK sources said.

The town of Vushtrri has indeed been turned into a Serbian military base.

Five Serbian tanks and three lorries with soldiers on board left Bukosh for Mihaliq village at 7:40 CET, whereas three more tanks have been reported stationed near the village of Gracë.

The Serbian forces positioned in Gracë started shelling the village of Mihaliq at 9:30 CET, local sources told the KIC.

A column of Serbian forces involving more than 20 vehicles left Mitrovica heading in the direction of Oshlan and Pantinë villages today.

Meanwhile, local LDK sources said Serbian forces burned seven Albanian houses in the village of Stanoc i Poshtëm last night. They were located near the Serb-inhabited Prilluzhë village of Vushtrri. The Albanians had abandoned their homes in the wake of threats by Serbian paramilitaries.

The village of Dolak was initially fired by Serbian forces Thursday afternoon, and later several houses were reported burned there.

Serbian shelling continues today

Serbian troops continued shelling the villages of Mihaliq, Druar, Strofc and others located at the foot of the Çiçavica massif. Serbs are attacking from their base at Gracë, local LDK sources said.

Serbian forces have been stationed in the Shallc village, as well as in Druar.

Smoke has been billowing from the attacked villages.

An Albanian civilian has been seriously wounded during today's attacks, sources said.

The population of the attacked villages, mostly women, children and elderly, started fleeing their homes, heading towards Kaçanik.

Some 200 people remain locked in Dubravë, though. A number of people have been reported arrested.

A heavy Serbian presence of arms and troops has been reported in Hani i Elezit municipality, too.

Three Albanians, including Suad Hysen Brava (18), have been reported unaccounted for since early March.

The Albanian settlements and UÇK positions were being shelled from Serbian positions in Lluzhan. Serbian army vehicles had arrived there earlier from Dumosh airfield, which has been turned into an army bases for months now.

Albanian villages were shelled yesterday, too, including Tërrnavë, which had not been attacked earlier.

The houses of three Albanian family compounds (Berisha, Bici and Kastrati) have been badly damaged by Serbian shelling, at a time many others were reported damaged in Sallabajë.

An Albanian, Fitim Halimi, resident of Dumnicë e Poshtme village of Podujeva, arrested three days ago in Podujeva, has not been released yet, local sources said.

Meanwhile, reports said heavy Serbian paramilitary police forces, backed up by combat equipment, were stationed today morning in the village of Besi, 10 km north of Prishtina along the Prishtina-Podujeva highway. Serbs have been sniping the area from an Albanian house there, local LDK sources said.

Groups of policemen stopped Albanian motorists and passers-by at Besi-Milloshevë crossroads, ill-treating many of them.

Having been routinely stopped in a police check-point near the Serbian-run District Court in downtown Prishtina early evening on Wednesday, Zeqir Hamiti (1958) and Hysen Pula were arrested and taken to a police station, where they were tortured for hours until 11:00 CET that day.

Mr. Hamiti, a screen-writer with the Radio and Television of Prishtina (RTP) till 1990 when he was fired from his job by the Serbian regime, said he was with Pula who was giving him a lift to his place, when police routinely stopped his car. He was himself taken into a police vehicle and transferred to the police station in Prishtina, whereas his co-traveller, a car mechanic, was forced to drive himself to the police station.

We were beaten up by uniformed and people in plain clothes in the police, Zeqir Hamiti said, who suffered two broken ribs and has bruises about his face and head.

The still unidentified man, around 50 years of age, was found in Rakovinë village, by the roadside.

This is the 11th person killed in mysterious circumstances in the municipality in a month, local LDK sources said.