By DAVE CARPENTER Associated Press Writer

PRISTINA, Yugoslavia (AP) -- Kosovo's leading ethnic Albanian politician today called for international

military intervention after the killings of 12 people this week put the province's fragile truce in jeopardy.

Ibrahim Rugova said the presence of international troops would help bring peace to Kosovo, where ethnic

Albanians are fighting for independence from Serbia, the main republic of Yugoslavia.

The killings of ethnic Albanians, including eight shot by Yugoslav border guards on Thursday, put a new

strain on the de-facto truce, which took hold after Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic agreed in

October to pull troops back to avoid NATO airstrikes.

Hundreds of people have died and up to 300,000 have been left homeless since Milosevic launched a

crackdown in February against rebels in Kosovo, which is populated overwhelmingly by ethnic Albanians.

``NATO ground troop deployment would provide a greater sense of security,'' Rugova said at a news

conference. The shootings are ``a sign that we need a special security force which will protect citizens and

stop violence in Kosovo,'' he added.

U.S. State Department officials presented a revised peace plan to ethnic Albanian officials today in

Kosovo's capital, Pristina, a day after U.S. envoy Christopher Hill appealed to Serb officials to accept the

changes.

A commander of the rebel Kosovo Liberation Army, meanwhile, disputed the Yugoslav army's report that

the eight ethnic Albanians shot by guards near the Albanian border were guerrillas.

The commander, who gave his name as Sylemetaj, said from Velika Krusa that the victims were refugees

returning to the village in southwestern Kosovo.

Western officials who visited the shooting site said it appeared the Albanians had stumbled on the army

unexpectedly, raising questions about the army account.

On Wednesday, three ethnic Albanians were gunned down in their car in Pristina, killings the KLA blamed

on Serbia's secret police. Another ethnic Albanian was shot dead Wednesday while traveling on a main

Kosovo road.

Retaliation by the KLA to those shootings would represent a grave threat to the truce.

A proposal to give Kosovo some form of self-rule for an interim period until a permanent solution can be

found has gained backing among both Rugova's moderate political bloc and the KLA in recent days.

``It's a sign we are ready to compromise to stop the violence and make peace in Kosovo,'' Rugova said.

AP-NY-12-04-98 1036EST