By Christine Spolar
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, June 18, 1998; Page A32

BAJRAM CURRI, Albania, June 17 – An Albanian man was shot to death Tuesday at the border with Kosovo, in a mountain pass used by refugees trying to escape from Serbian forces and separatist rebels heading back into battle.

A gunfight reportedly broke out between Serbian soldiers posted along the border and Albanian men trying to retrieve the body of the man, described by family members as a shepherd from the nearby town of Tropoje.

International monitors in northern Albania described the incident as "isolated" but "very serious" since it apparently marked one of the first instances of cross-border military action by Serbian forces since the conflict in Kosovo erupted in late February.

Albanian President Rexhap Mejdani called the incident a "provocation" in a news conference here today, but shied away from promising an increased Albanian military presence on the border or from describing the incident as a breach of Albanian security.

Mejdani's tepid response may be due in part to the depleted condition of this impoverished country's armed forces, which were decimated in civil unrest a year ago. The Albanian air force announced it will hold an exercise on Friday, the first since last year. The Albanian military totals no more than 5,000 men, according to Western observers.

Western governments fear the conflict in Kosovo, a province of the Yugoslav republic of Serbia where Serbian forces are cracking down on the independence-minded ethnic Albanian majority, could spill into Albania and neighboring Macedonia. Macedonia has a large ethnic Albanian minority. At least 300 people have been killed in Kosovo since late February.

Western observers said the shooting, which occurred shortly after 1 p.m. Tuesday, may have been intended as a message from the Serbian authorities that they will no longer tolerate the open smuggling of weapons and supplies to Kosovo's separatist guerrillas through Albania's mountain passes.

Relatives of the dead man who were interviewed this afternoon said Serbian and Albanian fighters exchanged gunfire during attempts to claim the body. They said the body apparently was dragged by Serbs during the night into Yugoslav territory.

"People are very nervous here," said Mehmet Meza, a cousin of the slain man, Adem Bajram Selmani. "He was killed on Albanian land, and the state forbids us to fight."

International aid officials assisting the thousands of ethnic Albanians who have fled the fighting to northern Albania said the shooting had an effect on refugees still stuck in the Yugoslav mountains. No refugees were found making their way into Albania today, aid officials said.

NATO flew more than 80 aircraft over Albania and Macedonia on Monday in a show of Western political will and military strength. Later that day, two Yugoslav army helicopters were seen along the Albanian border, and monitors reported one of them swooped into Albanian airspace.

Refugees who arrived in Albania Tuesday said the helicopters fired shots on some refugee camps in the Yugoslav mountains. One of the helicopters firing on refugees was said to have Red Cross markings. The refugees' accounts could not be independently verified.