Civilians killed in Serbia

PARIS, March 25 (PTI, Reuters) — At least 10 persons were killed in last night’s NATO air strikes on Serb installations even as the erstwhile Yugoslavia was bracing itself for another imminent attack from the allies.

Yugoslavia’s Information Minister Goran Matic said more than 10 civilians were killed and over 60 persons injured in Nato air strikes last night.

‘More than 10 persons were killed in this attack, and the dead people are not soldiers but civilians’, he said in a telephone interview from Belgrade with CNN.

Asked if there had been any change in the government’s position over a Kosovo peace deal, Matic said, ‘No, it isn’t true. The Nato attacks represent acts of aggression....we are ready to fight against aggression’.

Nato Secretary-General Javier Solana said on French radio that air strikes against Yugoslavia’s air defences would probably continue for a few days after military chiefs assess the impact of the first bombings.

‘We will probably continue the strike for a few days in the first stage which is to try do away with (Yugoslavia’s) air defences and cut its air force capacity’, Solana said.

‘Nato is not waging war against Yugoslavia, we have no quarrel with the people of Yugoslavia. Our actions are directed against the repressive policy of that country’s leadership’, he said.

Meanwhile, Itar-Tass, quoting diplomatic and military sources, said in Moscow that Yugoslavian air defence system had shot down two Nato warplanes and 15 cruise missiles during the overnight bombing.

According to Serbian television monitored in France, Serbian Education Ministry has ordered closure of all educational institutes till April 2.

The television showed pictures of burning and destroyed building in Pristina, capital of Kosovo.

Earlier, Nato Secretary-General while launching the first strike against Belgrade said, ‘Nato aircraft have launched air strikes against Serbian targets. This is necessary because President Slobodan Milosevic violated earlier cease-fire commitments to stop the brutal repression in Kosovo’.

However, President Milosevic showed defiance calling on his people to defend their country by all means and said, ‘the freedom of the country was at stake’.

Nato assembled around 430 aircraft in and around Yugoslavia and hundreds of ships launched cruise missiles to punish Serbia for not accepting to a Kosovo peace accord signed by ethnic Albanians. Serbs rejected the plan, saying stationing Nato troops in their southern province is against a sovereign nation.

Kukes (Albania): Serbian forces on Thursday shelled two villages in north-eastern Albania and shot and wounded a border post commander after Nato bombed Yugoslav military targets, an Albanian army commander said.

Kudusi Lama, who heads the second infantry division in Kukes, a border town in mountains 250 km northeast of Tirana, said the frontier was ‘very hot’, with Serbs shooting at Albanian soldiers who did not return the fire.

‘The commander of the Dobrune military post was wounded at 0130 hrs (IST) by the Yugoslav side’, Lama said.

He said Albanian troops were showing restraint.

Belgrade (DPA): A military airport outside here was targeted on Thursday morning in a fresh Nato air strike, a local radio station reported.

Plumes of smoke were seen rising from the airport, some 25 km from central Belgrade, according to the radio.

There was no official confirmation from Yugoslav officials or word from Nato on new air strikes.

Air raid sirens sounded here at 9.30 a.m. (local time).

Edirne (AP): Over 1,000 ethnic Albanians have reached Turkey over the past three days, fleeing Serb violence in Kosovo, a regional governor said.

Local Gov Mehmet Canseven said Turkey could accept another 3,000 refugees. Most of the Kosovars who arrived in Turkey have relatives here, he said.

Turkey has close ties with the predominantly Muslim Albanians and took part in the Nato operation against Yugoslavia that began on Wednesday. Four of its F-16 fighters based in Italy were deployed, daily Hurriyet said, and a Turkish frigate is part of the Nato naval force.

Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said he feared the conflict could spread to neighbouring countries.

‘I hope it will not turn into another world war’, he was quoted by Anatolia news agency as saying .

Greece is not taking part in direct Nato action against Serbia, a traditional ally.

Many fear the Kosovo conflict may aggravate the tensions between Nato allies Greece and Turkey. Turkish military units were reported on alert in Thrace near the Greek and Bulgarian borders as well as in the Aegean.

‘Greece is supporting the Serbs although it does not show it openly’, Ecevit alleged.

Halt military action: India
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, March 25 — Terming the NATO air strikes as a violation of UN Charter, India today called for an immediate halt to all military action against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) and said the Balkan country should be helped to resolve its internal issues by itself.

"The government holds that the air strikes are in violation of the UN Charter, also that they amount to interference in the internal affairs of a country", a spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs said here.

In a sharp reaction, the spokesman said such "unilateral moves", even if taken as regional initiatives, but without the United Nations Security Council’s approval, seriously undermine the authority of the entire UN system.

Expressing concern over the possibility of an escalation of the conflict further, the spokesman said this action , which is an evidence of NATO’s extra territorial engagement, is a development that can only cause anxiety.

The present crisis in Kosovo could only be resolved through peaceful means and a solution found within the framework of the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of the FRY.

"We would urge that all military actions be brought to a halt; that peace be given a chance; and that the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, a fellow member of the non-aligned, be enabled to resolve its internal issues internally", the spokesman said.

Meanwhile, Yugoslavia sought India’s support in mobilising international opinion against the "open and unprovoked aggression" by NATO forces against a sovereign country "violating all principles and norms of International Law". The Yugolsav Ambassador to India, Mr Cemonir Strbac, told newspersons here that "we look forward to further diplomatic action besides moral and political support" for the firm stand taken by our government.

The Ambassador said the Yugoslav government expected support of all friendly countries to raise their voice against "injustice".

Mr Strbac said his government was thankful to New Delhi’s support and praised the unambiguous position taken by India at the UN Security Council.

"No country, group of countries or regional arrangement, no matter how powerful, can arrogate to itself the right of taking arbitrary and unilateral action against others, that would be a return to anarchy where might is right", the Indian Ambassador to the UN, Mr Kamlesh Sharma told the Council last night.

A former Prime Minister, Mr I.K. Gujral, condemned the NATO action saying the USA and its fellow members of NATO had arrogated to themselves a role — outside the UN system — that enabled them to strike at will on any sovereign member of the United Nations.

"The unilateral action — first since the end of the cold war — is worrisome for all those who are not a part of the single military alliance. Even more specifically it is baneful for such countries that are culturally and ethnically diverse and may be victim of foreign sponsored terrorism", Mr Gujral said in a sharp reaction. "This baleful action manifests the arrogance of power and causes concern even among the permanent members of the Security Council: Russia and China have raised their powerful voices of protests. France — another member of the P-5 has dissociated itself from these aggressive acts," the former Prime Minister said.