Headlines
- Even today on Annunciation Day Pristina continues to be the scene of mass crimes by NATO aggressors
- Ecological threat to the countries of the Danube basin after the destruction of the refinery in Novi Sad
- In spite of opposite reassurances, Montenegro again targeted by aggressor’s missiles
- The Contact Group, without the Russian representative, rejects the cease-fire offer by the FRY
- Urgent simplification of the regime of goods exchange between the RS and the FRY
- His Holiness, Patriarch Pavle, gives an Easter message today on Annunciation Day
- Basketball players of Port MK champions of the RS for the sixth time in a row
10 people were killed and dozens wounded in last night’s air strikes against central parts of Pristina.. Two hours before, NATO missiles hit a gas warehouse in one of the settlements in the outskirts of Pristina. Pristina was again bombed at around 3.00 this morning. 17 civilians killed and over 40 injured in NATO air strikes against the town of Aleksinac on 5th April. Over 400 apartments either destroyed or seriously damaged in the town. Aside from Pristina, NATO also bombed Novi Sad, Sombor and Nis last night. NATO missiles hit the warehouse and the garage of the local refinery in Novi Sad. Lucani, Pancevo, Cacak, Sremska Mitrovica and Podgorica were also targeted in the last 24 hours.
According to the Information Unit of the FRY Army Pristina Corps all units of this corps have been acting in line with the decision by the FRY and the Serbian Governments.
Genady Selezniov, who is visiting Belgrade today, gave a statement saying that Russia condemned NATO aggression against the FRY in the strongest terms possible and requested that it should immediately stop. It is our obligation to offer help. Slobodan Milosevic has, on his part, been quoted as saying that NATO bombings which have caused large movements of the Kosovo population were aimed at occupying the country. “The FRY will remain persistent in trying to reach a peaceful solution of the crisis through direct negotiations within Serbia”.
The FRY Supreme Command HQ today stated that NATO was going to misuse Albanian refugees from Kosovo for deploying their land troops in the area. According to the military authorities, a large number of refugees are currently being recruited, armed and trained to play the role of live flesh during the NATO invasion across the FRY borders that is being planned.
According to a statement by the Acting President of Cyprus, Slobodan Milosevic was prepared to deliver the three arrested American soldiers as a gesture of good will. The first UN peacekeeping force commander in Bosnia, General Mackenzie, has today visited Aleksinac in his capacity as reporter for Canadian state TV. The Canadian General said that his job was to inform about developments in the FRY in an objective way.
An Austrian writer, Peter Handke, has today claimed to be leaving the Catholic Church as a sign of protest against the fact that it was only on the 12th day of the NATO aggression that the Pope reacted to condemn the conflict in the area of Kosovo but not the NATO air strikes.
The Greek Foreign Minister today stated that the West should take the advantage of the Easter cease-fire unilaterally declared by Belgrade to restart a diplomatic initiative for the solution of the Kosovo crisis.
The Russian Foreign Minister, Igor Ivanov, has described the declaration of a cease-fire by the FRY and the Serbian Governments as a very important signal given in the right direction and that it should be used to stir up the events towards a peaceful settlement to the crisis.
The Spokesperson for the Russian President has given a statement to the French TV “France” that NATO bombings and military operations by Yugoslav forces should simultaneously stop in Kosovo.
The Russian Ambassador to the UN in Europe has stated that the mass exodus of Kosovo population had been caused by NATO air strikes.
The U.S. vice-president, Al Gore, met with the Russian PM, Yevgeni Primakov, on the most recent developments related to the Kosovo crisis. After the meeting, Gore stated that they had tried to redress the damage caused to relations between the two countries as a result of their different positions on the Kosovo issue.
According to New York Times, certain military circles within NATO that have become more and more resigned over the NATO air campaign against the FRY have warned that Kosovo is not a desert.
On the evening of his visit to the U.S. and Canada, the Chinese PM today reiterated that China was against NATO air strikes on the FRY.
The Editor-in-Chief of the main Albanian daily newspaper in Kosovo, Koha Ditore, who was claimed to have been killed during the first week of NATO air strikes has given a statement to the “Independent” newspaper announcing his meeting with the British Foreign Minister shortly.
A group of about 50 Portuguese intellectuals, including a Nobel Prize winner, have signed a petition publicly condemning the NATO aggression against the FRY.
The Contact Group, at their meeting today in Bonn, which was not attended by the Russian representative, refuted the proposal by the Governments of the FRY and Serbia of a unilateral cease-fire. Conclusions made by the meeting today are expected to be supported at the planned meeting of the Group 8 countries.
NATO held a regular press briefing in Brussels. Jamie Shea described the unilateral cease-fire as insufficient and posed five key questions to Milosevic all related to Kosovo. Shea also thanked Slovakia for making its air space open for NATO air forces. The conference primarily focused on support given by the NATO alliance for Albanian refugees.
Robin Cook, the British Foreign Minister, at a press conference in the British Defence Ministry today, described the cease-fire offered by Milosevic as “cynical” and lacking “credibility”.
The Russian DUMA today adopted a resolution urging the Russian Government and the President to start considering and take necessary measures for deliveries of military equipment, armament and appropriate spare parts for the FRY starting April 15.
Protests against NATO aggression against the FRY continue in the RS. Protest rallies were today held in Novi Grad and Prnjavor.
After the meeting of the RS Government today, the RS Minister of Information, Rajko Vasic, stated that assurances had been given by the NATO Command that no bridge on the Drina River would be destroyed provided that the Government gave guarantees that those would not be used for military purposes. Representatives of the respective Chambers of Commerce of the RS and the FRY, at their meeting in Belgrade today, assessed that the regime of goods exchange between the two countries must be simplified urgently in order to ensure a swifter flow of goods. In order to protect the RS market from a gray economy, the RS Government has adopted new economic policy measures, which are primarily aimed at regulating the market of excisable goods and at ensuring a better control of fiscal liabilities towards the state budget.
Zivko Radisic met with the British Ambassador in BiH, Graham Hand, in BL today. The meeting which focused on the current situation in the RS and BIH concluded that war activities should stop in the FRY as soon as possible in order to prevent serious consequences that could affect the entire region. Ambassador Hand also met with the RS PM, Milorad Dodik. Dodik and Hand exchanged opinions on the current political situation in the RS.
SKY news today reported on a strange situation where about 30,000 Albanian refugees just disappeared from a collective shelter in Macedonia.
His Holiness, Serb Patriarch Pavle, today addressed a traditional Easter message. News from the BiH Federation.