No rift on ground war, says Blair

TONY BLAIR stepped up pressure on the United States last night to contemplate committing ground troops to Kosovo, saying the alliance must use all the means at its disposal to achieve victory in the struggle against Slobodan Milosevic .

In a clear attempt to shore up public opinion in America in the face of growing signs of anxiety in the White House about the conduct of the war, the Prime Minister said: "Whatever it takes, we must succeed and the policy of brutal savagery that is ethnic cleansing must fail and be seen to fail," He was speaking in the Bulgarian capital Sofia at the start of a two-day visit to the region.

Mr Blair insisted at the same time that blunders in the bombing campaign had not, and would not fracture the Western alliance. "It hasn't happened. It will not happen. it has brought Europe and the US closer together."

In a message targeted at the US public, he said: "America has once again shown that it has the vision to see that instability, chaos and racial genocide in the heart of Europe will never affect Europe alone. Thank goodness America has the vision and steadfastness."

The continuing harder rhetoric on ground troops - a sensitive diplomatic and political issue - provoked irritation in Brussels. Senior French sources made it clear that the British line was "very dangerous"because it was divisive.

No one suggested that London has changed position in favour of an opposed land invasion, but the planners are having to speed up the preparations to avoid the refugees being caught by winter. British ministers believe that ground forces could be used once the Serb units have been sufficiently weakened by bombing.

In an orchestrated move to keep the issue on the agenda the Foreign Secretary Robin Cook also appeared to suggest the time might be nearing for a land intervention, while also emphasising that any such decision was one for the alliance as a whole.

In Brussels during meetings at Nato and the European Union, the Foreign Secretary made clear that the allies would not necessarily wait for a deal with President Milosevic before escorting the refugees back. The Yugoslav leader had no veto, he declared - "We are not going to hang around in Macedonia until there is a grand signing ceremony in front of the flags and cameras."

But Mr Cook, who is making a hastily arranged trip to the US this week to dispel talk of a rift between a hawkish London and a more hesitant Washington, again ruled out a fully opposed invasion which he insisted had no support within the alliance.

Nato's chief spokesman, Jamie Shea, reiterated that there would be no contested ground invasion yesterday when he said that Nato had come down on the side of an international security force, "once the violence has stopped". He added that questions of timing, tasks and size of the force were up for debate, but made clear: "It is not about resurrecting the ground invasion option."

Increasingly severe damage was being inflicted on Yugoslav forces within Kosovo, Mr Cook claimed. "It is a question we must examine very carefully, how much longer the Yugoslav army can continue without reaching the point at which it cannot provide organised resistance." Javier Solana, Nato's Secretary General, is now carrying out a review of when that moment might be.

Further reports, pages 2-3

Tim Garden, Review, page 5