Carla del Ponte, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda, told an open meeting of the Council said that her office had received various complaints and a considerable body of information from a number of sources -- including lawyers acting on behalf of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and a Russian parliamentary group -- in support of the allegations.

However, Ms. Del Ponte said that after careful examination of the material, she was 'very satisfied' that although NATO had made some mistakes there was no deliberate targeting of civilians or unlawful military targets during the air campaign.

The details of the assessment and the criteria applied would be released in the near future, Ms del Ponte said.

Ms. Del Ponte also drew the Security Council's attention to the fact that since the NATO bombing campaign, and the indictment of President Milosovic, the authorities in Belgrade had ceased all cooperation with the Tribunal. She said this had severely impeded her efforts to investigate crimes committed against Serbs, and this fact made claims that the Tribunal was anti-Serb rather hollow.

At the same time, Ms. Del Ponte said she was pleased to report that the new Croatian Government was demonstrating an "encouraging" willingness to cooperate fully with the Tribunal.

A mother and two children were also in the car, and are in hospital being treated for injuries, according to Susan Manuel, spokeswoman for the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). The incident occurred before 8 a.m. in Ugorevo, south-west of Pristina, on a road connecting Serb villages, which had previously been cleared of landmines, the spokeswoman said.

In the Gnjilane region, yesterday, one Kosovar Serb woman was shot dead, and two men critically injured in a drive-by shooting while they were working in a field. Also, two Serb houses in Obilic were attacked with hand grenades last night injuring one man, and an elderly Serb woman was run over by a speeding Albanian motorist who was later arrested, Ms. Manuel said.

The latest attacks have come in the wake of the murder, Wednesday, of Milutin Trajkovic, who was killed in another drive-by shooting at Babin Most, and which led to violent protests in the area. On Sunday, three Serbs, including a 4-year-old boy, were killed in another drive-by shooting.

Ms. Manuel described the killings as "cold blooded," and said they appeared to make no distinction between men, women or children.

Of that number, 1,500 were forced-returns, almost all of them from Germany, UNHCR spokesman, Peter Kessler, said at a briefing today.

Mr. Kessler said that during the month of May, more than 11,500 people arrived under organized repatriations, the most since September 1999. He said that the number of organized returns was expected to rise to between 12,000 and 15,000 per month.

UNMIK has appealed to host countries to ensure that returns of Kosovars are orderly, gradual and humane.

Mr Kessler said the returns have so far not caused major problems in terms of shelter.

Before they can be included on the ballot, candidates need to collect 100 signatures of support from people in the municipality in which they intend to run, OSCE spokesman Roland Bless told a press briefing today in Pristina.

The signatures must be submitted to the OSCE political party services before the certification deadline on 11 June, Mr. Bless said.

OSCE is responsible for the section of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) charged with democratization and institution building in Kosovo.

UNMIK spokeswoman Susan Manuel said that political parties that did not intend to run in the municipal elections could register at any time.

Lord Robertson said that the international community was committed to a multi-ethnic, peaceful and democratic Kosovo, as witnessed by the more than 40,000 troops, 4,000 police and other international staff in the province. However, he gave the KTC a 'solemn warning' that the international community did not have unlimited patience, and said that the leaders of Kosovo must tell the people this 'blunt truth,' and publically condemn ethnic violence.

"In such meetings they have a tendency of telling me what I want to hear. Everyone agrees that ethnic hatred has to be set aside for the future of Kosovo," Lord Robertson said, but added that none of the leaders repeated the message outside the meeting rooms.

During its meeting, the KTC also endorsed yesterday's statement by the Interim Administrative Council condemning the recent murder of three ethnic Serbs in Cernica. A suspect in the shooting has been arrested and is expected to go before an international judge in the next two days, a UN spokeswoman said.

The occasion was marked with a symbolic letter sent to the United Nations Secretary-General in New York from Dr. Bernard Kouchner, his Special Representative in Kosovo, who described the event as "yet another milestone in the establishment of peace," according to Susan Manuel, spokeswoman for the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).

"Many Kosovar families who are dispersed all over the world will now be brought closer together by letters," Dr. Kouchner wrote in the letter.

As of today, all international post from Kosovo is being flown to Switzerland and from there distributed to other countries. The exceptions are letters destined for Albania or the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, which travel directly by land, Ms. Manuel said. Initially, only postcards and letters weighing less than 500 grams will be delivered.

There are now 90 post offices open in Kosovo, compared with 130 before the war, and the postal service is using 60 motorcycles and 10 vans to distribute the letters. The postal service is expected to employ some 700 people, Ms. Manuel said.

The victims, Miki Petrovic, age four, and two men were killed during a drive-by shooting in Cernica, a village south of Gnjilane. Two other Serbs were seriously injured in the incident, which happened at around 8:30 p.m. on Sunday.

The conference, which was organized by the United Nations Interim Administration in Kosovo (UNMIK), was aimed at getting more women to participate in the elections this autumn, and to encourage their involvement in building a tolerant society in Kosovo. It brought together representatives from 174 local and 34 international non-governmental organizations, as well as women from political parties, business, the media and the Kosovo Police Service.

The head of UNMIK, Dr. Bernard Kouchner opened the conference, and called on women to register and vote, and to demand that their political parties include 30 per cent women on the ballots. He noted that so far in the registration process, women lagged behind men.

After a two hour plenary session, the conference divided into four working groups on the themes of: enhancing the role of women in the democratic process; increasing the involvement of women in promoting tolerance and peaceful co-existence; finding solutions to women's socio-economic problems; and establishing a Kosovo women's advisory group to liaise with the UNMIK office of gender affairs. The working groups formulated a list of proposals which will be followed up by the relevant departments of the Joint Interim Administrative Structure.