DEPARTURE OF SERBS FROM KOSOVO CEASES - SERB MEDIA

BELGRADE, June 22 (Hina) - Over a thousand Serbs who fled Kosovo in the recent days fearing reprisals form the Kosovo Liberation Army after the withdrawal of the Yugoslav Army and police that committed grave crimes against the ethnic Albanian population, came back to Kosovo from different parts of Serbia, the news agency BETA reported on Monday. The state-controlled Radio-Television Serbia (RTS) on Monday evening said the departure of Serbs from Kosovo ceased. The state-controlled media accentuated the organised return of Kosovo Serbs. Local authorities in towns where those fleeing Serbs had found shelter have engaged in providing food and fuel to Serbs for their return. Those convoys have been escorted by members of the Government in order to make returnees feel more secure. Television Belgrade broadcast statements of returnees who said they trusted the state authorities and that they would remain in Kosovo. For those who cannot still go into their own homes, "normal life in tents" has been organised, authorities said. Red Cross branches from all over Serbia are dispatching shipments of aid to Kosovo residents. The state-controlled media labels fleeing Kosovo Serbs as "temporary displaced persons" who are being persuaded by an intensive political campaign to go back to Kosovo Those Kosovo Serbs who reached Belgrade demand a status of refugees and adequate care. About two hundred fleeing Serbs tried to stage a protest rally in the downtown Belgrade, but the police banned it. (hina) ms