Battles in Kosovo May Hinder U.S. Envoy’s Bid to Win Peace Deal

PRISTINA, Yugoslavia —  Yugoslav forces backed by tanks battled Kosovo rebels and reportedly set fire to ethnic Albanian homes Tuesday, underscoring the difficulties facing U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke, who is trying to pressure Yugoslavia’s president into signing a peace deal.

Holbrooke flew to Belgrade, the Yugoslav capital, for an expected meeting with President Slobodan Milosevic today, hoping to get the hard-line leader to agree to a plan aimed at ending the war in the province in the south of Serbia, the dominant Yugoslav republic.

Holbrooke warned of a possible “collision course” between NATO--which has threatened airstrikes if no agreement is reached--and Milosevic.

Holbrooke was instrumental in brokering a peace agreement for Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1995 and a Kosovo cease-fire in October. That cease-fire has unraveled in recent weeks, but Holbrooke and Milosevic are believed to work well together.