Showdown Looming Over Kosovo Village

Ethnic Albanian militants dug in around a besieged Serbian village in Kosovo--a showdown that international officials fear could plunge the secessionist province into all-out war. Fighters from the Kosovo Liberation Army, who have maintained an armed ring around Kijevo for 11 days, said they were deeply entrenched. Witnesses said Yugoslav helicopters strafed and bombed the militants’ positions for 90 minutes late Saturday night. U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke and other officials have been urging both sides to refrain from attacks in Kijevo, fearing a wider war if Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic orders Serbian security forces to smash the militants’ siege.