While much of the Western world is focused on the presidential election and political affairs,the Presevo Valley in Yugoslavia is rapidly becoming another battlefield. Currently owned by the Serbs, the Presevo Valley is quickly becoming another Balkan battlefield. This valley lies within Serbia and is bordered by Kosovo to the southeast. It is claimed by Serbs, but populated mainly by ethnic Albanians. Rebel Albanian fighters want to include it in Kosovo. Rebels have already taken control of several villages in the valley and often launch attacks on Serbian police. In order for the rebels to make their attack, they have to invade Serbia through the demilitarized zone between Kosovo and Serbia, a zone patrolled by American troops. As part of the NATO peacekeeping operation in Kosovo, American soldiers are in the three-mile buffer zone, with a challenging job to prevent guerillas and weapons from crossing the boundary. Yugoslav authorities have warned that if NATO doesn’t do something to stop the rebel attacks, then they will. Nebosja Covic, a Serbian deputy prime minister, claims that the NATO force “bears the full and exclusive responsibility for making sure the Albanian extremists withdraw from the area”. Even in the demilitarized zone, Yugoslav army T-55 battle tanks still move up the border. Armed Serbian forces have also been seen near the buffer zone’s borders. Patrick McGuire, a NATO spokesman and U.S. Staff Sergeant, said, “We are continuing to monitor the situation and broker a peace as much as we can.”Although Kosovo is still a province of Serbia, Yugoslavia’s main republic, it has been under international control since last June. Many of the ethnic Albanian residents who live there would like full independence. The rebels would like to unite the Presevo Valley, which has a mainly ethnic Albanian population, with Kosovo, which has been controlled by NATO and the U.N. since Yugoslav troops were forced out of the Serbian province in June 1999 under the 78-day NATO bombing campaign. The valley is still under Yugoslav control since it is not part of Kosovo. On Saturday December 2, British peacekeepers said they plan to stop ethnic Albanian incursions into the Presevo Valley. Major Andy Carre, one of approximately 200 British soldiers sent to the boundary between Kosovo and the rest of Serbia, said, “We want to let the rebels know that we are taking massive interest in what they are doing. We are taking steps to change what they are trying to do — fight in the Presevo Valley.” The British troops were sent to the area in order to reinforce American and