Tuesday, April 6, 1999 Published at 19:05 GMT 20:05 UK
Serbs declare Kosovo ceasefire
Aleksinac's injured after a night of heavy bombing
But Western leaders swiftly denounced the move saying it fell short of what was needed to halt the 13-day-old Nato air attacks.
Serbian media quoted an official statement saying "all actions against the aggressive Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) will be unilaterally halted at 2000 hours (1800 GMT) in honour of the greatest Orthodox Christian holiday, Easter".
The statement said that Belgrade would work for the return of about 400,000 ethnic Albanians who have fled Kosovo.
Shortly after the ceasefire came into force Serbian TV, quoting the army information service, reported that all Yugoslav army units in Kosovo were complying with the order from Belgrade.
Russian President Boris Yeltsin said that he welcomed the initiative in principle.
But the plan was rejected in the US with the White House saying it was not interested in "hollow gestures".
Mr Cohen said accepting a ceasefire now would be an "abdication of responsibility" by Nato.
Belgrade's offer was also dismissed in London. The Ministry of Defence dismissed the truce as the "grubby kind of offer".
Officials said it was just a sign of the Serbs "trying it on". They said the Serbs must demonstrate once and for all that the repression had ended and that forces had been withdrawn and refugees allowed back.
Heaviest bombing yet
The ceasefire offer follows the heaviest night of raids over Yugoslavia since the Nato campaign began.
Air Commodore David Wilby said a missile which struck the town of Aleksinac had been 600 metres short of the military post targeted.
"Any unintended damage to civilian property or loss of life... is very much regretted," he said.
Serbian media said the strike on the southern mining town had killed at least five people and injured another 30.
Television reports said about 10 buildings had been destroyed, as well as a centre for emergencies and a medical dispensary.
Air Commodore Wilby said an investigation was under way to establish what had happened.
Clearer skies on Monday night allowed Nato to carry out its most intensive air attacks over Yugoslavia so far.
Air Commodore Wilby said the bombing had yielded "good results" and that all aircraft had returned safely to base on completion of their mission.
He said attacks against armoured forces in Kosovo were being extended into daylight hours and also confirmed that Nato had destroyed four Yugoslav MiG warplanes on the ground two days ago.
Serbian TV showed footage fires and devastation after the bombing.
The state-run Tanjug news agency reported five big explosions in Serbia's second city Nis and said Nato warplanes had struck in or near at least a futher five Serbian towns.
Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic voiced new defiance in the face of the Nato bombing.
Yugoslavs are "ready to defend their country", his office said in a statement.
A communications relay station near Kosovo's capital Pristina and targets on the main road from Kosovo to Serbia were also hit, Tanjug said.
Airlift under way
The first of those refugees were reported to be arriving in Turkey, which has promised respite for 20,000 people escaping Serbian violence.