Kosovo Albanians Foil Russian Troops

Russian peacekeeping troops retreated to ponder their next move after ethnic Albanians set up a giant roadblock to stop them from entering the southern town of Orahovac in Kosovo, the Serbian province on whose behalf NATO waged an 11-week air war against Yugoslavia. An advance party of Russians turned back after encountering the line of stationary cars, trucks and tractors stretching more than half a mile along a winding hillside road near Orahovac, while German and Dutch peacekeepers tried to persuade the ethnic Albanians to allow the Russians to begin taking control of the town from the Dutch. Kosovo’s majority Albanian population opposes Russia’s role in the NATO-led peacekeeping mission because the Albanians believe that the Russians favor the Serbs. Dutch officers said they would meet with their Russian counterparts today to discuss the standoff.