More than 40 powerful blasts were heard in Pristina in two waves in the early hours of Sunday as Yugoslav gunners responded with heavy anti-aircraft fire.

In Belgrade an air-raid alert was lifted after more than 10 hours on Sunday at 6.35 a.m. (0435 GMT). the Tanjug news agency, citing witnesses, said a NATO aircraft had been shot down over northern Serbia early on Sunday.

A NATO military spokesman immediately denied the report, saying that all the NATO planes which flew overnight missions had returned safely to base.

Tanjug said the plane was downed at 00:12 a.m. (2212 GMT) but gave no details as to the type of plane involved. It said a search was underway in the area.

Witnesses quoted in the Tanjug report saidthey saw anti-aircraft fire hit a plane over the village of Backi Brestovac between Sombor and Odzak in Voivodina province, about 200 kilometres (125 miles) northwest of Belgrade.

In Brussels, a NATO spokesman said all allied planes that participated in the night's raids had returned safely to their bases.

Meanwhile Yugoslav deputy prime minister Vuk Draskovic said in an interview published in the French press on Sunday that Belgrade was seeking a ``political accord'' for Kosovo and would accept a ``foreign presence'' to guarantee the deal.

``We want to conclude without delay a political accord on Kosovo with the leader of the Kosovo Albanians, Ibrahim Rugova... As soon as we get a political agreement with Mr. Rugova, we will accept a foreign presence which would guarantee implementation of this agreement,'' Draskovic was quoted as saying.

In the interview given to an independent journalist in Belgrade and published in the Journal du Dimanche weekly, Draskovic explained: ``We are ready to agreeto the demilitarisation of Kosovo, but without including our border troops. We are ready to give the highest degree of autonomy to the Albanians but within the framework of Serbia and only Serbia.''

Russian parliamentary speaker Gennady Seleznev said on Thursday that Rugova and Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic had agreed on working out a plan for creating an interim government in Kosovo.

Rugova, whose movements according to NATO have been restricted in Pristina, has called for an end to the continuing NATO air strikes against Yugoslavia but it has been unclear to the West whether he has been under duress.

In Albania, Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) spokesman Andrea Angeli said 4,200 Kosovo Albanian refugees entered the country at the northern border post town of Morina late Saturday.