The plan was adopted by NATO's North Atlantic Council of Permanent Representatives in Brussels.

The Western alliance says it has no plan to invade Kosovo but is keeping its military options open should NATO's campaign of bombing fail to force Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to comply with international demands on Kosovo.

The unspoken implication is that it could form the basis of a much larger army that would fight its way into Kosovo if the alliance decides such a strategy is necessary to enforce its demands and prevent the starvation of hundreds of thousands of dispossessed ethnic Abanians.

NATO spokesman Jamie Shea called it ``our Teddy Roosevelt force'' built to speak softly but carry a big stick. It would have ``big, sharp teeth'' to enable it to repel any attempts to oppose its mandate or threaten its personnel.

The exact figure and compositionof the mission, dubbed Operation Joint Guardian or KFOR Plus, was to be determined by military commanders in the course of the week at a so-called ``force generation'' conference.

``What has been approved by the Council politically is the update of the KFOR plan,'' NATO Secretary General Javier Solana told reporters. ``The updated KFOR is to be deployed for a peacekeeping mission, not for any other purpose.''

But he added: ``As I said before, all other options are open and we are working on them because we don't want to take off the table any option.''