BRUSSELS NATO has sent a reconnassiance mission to northern Albania to study conditions under which a military contingent might be deployed there to help stabilize neighboring Kosovo, informed sources at alliance headquarters said here Friday. They said no decision had yet been taken, but NATO officers had spent the last week studying military options to contribute to stability around Kosovo, the unruly Serbian province adjacent to Albania. These options included ground deployment in northern Albania and western Macedonia, a former Yugoslav republic now independent.

The population of Kosovo is 90 percent ethnic Albanian. Its leaders are seeking independence from Belgrade rule. Northern Albania with its mountainous and wooded terrain is particularly difficult to keep under surveillance according to military sources. Bad weather prevailing for most of the year hinders helicopter sorties and lack of roads impedes ground troop movements. Among alternatives being studied is the creation of a security zone, an air exclusion zone and deployment of troops with an exclusively humanitarian mission which could be extended to a peacekeeping role, sources say.

A report on the various options will be presented to a half-yearly NATO foreign ministers' session in Luxembourg at the end of this month. (AFP)