Friday APRIL 2, 1999

Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic today received a joint delegation of the Russian Federation's State Duma and the National Assembly of Belarus, headed by the Duma's deputy speaker, Sergei Baburin.

The guests conveyed the strong support, admiration and solidarity of the peoples of Russia and Belarus to the Yugoslav people. Representatives of the Russian and Belarus Parliament set out the unanimous requests of the people of Russia and Belarus for NATO's crime against the people of Yugoslavia to stop immediately, and for the culprits to be brought to justice. They stressed that the US military self-will and the bombing of Yugoslavia represented a grave crime against peace and humanity. It is the united stand of Russia and Belarus that Yugoslavia and the fraternal and brave Serbian nation, which is courageously defending its freedom, independence and national dignity, must be given all the necessary help, said Russia's and Belarussian national representatives, emphasizing that the two countries' parliamentary parties requested their top state leadership resolutely to oppose NATO. President Milosevic expressed satisfaction with the visit of the joint Russian-Belarussian parliamentary delegation and thanked for their great support and solidarity. Stressing that the defence of the country was the greatest right, duty and interest of the nation, President Milosevic said: "We shall defend our country. If we have help we will defend it more easily, and if not, we will defend it with greater difficulty, but one thing is for sure - we will defend it". The talks were also attended by the chairman of the Yugoslav Parliament's Chamber of Citizens, Milomir Minic, as well as the Russian and Belarussian ambassadors to our country, Yuri Kotov and Valery Brilyov.

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The meeting of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic with Dr Ibrahim Rugova on April 1 in Belgrade, and their talks on the problems in Kosovo-Metohija, are attracting great attention in the world. The world media focus on the joint orientation of President Milosevic and Ibrahim Rugova in favour of a political process and their agreement that the problems can be solved successfully and permanently only by political means.

Moscow welcomes the renewal of the Yugoslav president's contacts with the Kosmet Albanian leader, a representative of the Russian government said. We welcome steps towards a political resolution of the conflicts, the Russian foreign ministry's spokesman told the ITAR-TASS news agency. He said that the meeting was especially important because of the fact that President Milosevic and Ibrahim Rugova were united in their stand that the bombardment of Yugoslavia must stop immediately. The deputy speaker of the State Duma, Sergey Baburin, has also welcomed Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's meeting with Ibrahim Rugova.

Reporting on this meeting, the Chinese media stress that, since the very beginning of the crisis, Yugoslavia has been in favour of a political solution to the problems in Kosovo-Metohija. They point to Yugoslavia's readiness to solve the Kosmet problems exclusively by political means, on condition that NATO's criminal bombing of Yugoslavia ceases.

The meeting of the president of the FR Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milosevic, with the political leader of the Kosmet Albanians, Ibrahim Rugova, was given front page coverage in Czech and Slovak newspapers, while these countries' electronic media emphasize that something no one could expect has happened in Belgrade.

A statement from Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's Cabinet after his talks with Ibrahim Rugova, saying that the problems in Kosovo-Metohija "can be solved successfully and permanently only by political means", has caused real confusion among the ranks of the aggressor NATO alliance. One of the executors of America's dirty work in Europe, the head of the criminal alliance, Javier Solana, at first would not even believe that such information was true. The aggressor armada's general, Wesley Clark, reacted in a similar manner, saying that "he did not possess such information". Christopher Hill, the American mediator in the negotiations on Kosovo-Metohija, also "did not want to know about the meeting between Milosevic and Rugova, and even if he did have such information - it was no concern of his" , the spokesman for this so-called mediator, Philip Rikker, visibly excited, told Yugoslav journalists.

The British Foreign Office is "surprised" by Rugova's visit to Belgrade and his talks with the President Milosevic. The confusion of the Foreign Office is understandable, since only two days ago, British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook publicly supported Albanian separatists and terrorists of the so-called KLA and received their three-member delegation.

French Foreign Ministry has refused to comment on this meeting. The news has also caused great surprise among politicians in Bonn who have so far refused to comment.

Official Tirana is shocked by Thursday's meeting of President Milosevic and the leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo, Ibrahim Rugova, who spoke in favor of a political solution to the crisis in Kosovo-Metohija. In a one-sentence statement by the press service of Prime Minister Pandeli Maiko's cabinet, Rugova was accused of being "irresponsible". Albania is obviously not pleased by the latest developments and the opening of a political dialogue for the resolution of the crisis in Kosmet, since Tirana advocates the continuation of bombardment and the arrival of western ground troops in this province.

The cabinet of US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright stated that "there was concern for Rugova's safety", and the question as to where the information about the Kosmet leader being endangered had come from, remained unanswered.

In the footage of Radio and Television of Serbia, carried by many world TV stations, Ibrahim Rugova is seen at his home and foreign journalists can be seen entering his luxurious house in Pristina. Foreign TV cameramen were allowed to film the house where Rugova lives, and the footage shows that the house is guarded by Serbian police forces. "There has been speculation about my being killed or wounded, and my house being destroyed." Ibrahim Rugova told foreign journalists in Pristina. He confirmed that, since his return from Paris, he has been at his family home in Pristina with his family.

Otherwise, the situation in Pristina after Thursday's meeting of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and Kosmet Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova has normalized, which can easily be noticed by the increased number of members of the Albanian national community returning to towns. Immediately after the beginning of the aggression and the bombing of Pristina, they left their apartments and took shelter in suburban areas and villages. In addition to this, Albanian separatists and terrorists have compelled their fellow nationals to become false refugees, so as to stage a humanitarian disaster. On the streets of Pristina, larger number of Albanians could be noticed on Friday, returning on foot or by car from suburban areas of Vranjevac and Dragodan to their apartments in the central parts of Pristina - Ulpijana, Dardanija and Kupusiste. In addition to Rugova's statement to foreign journalists, in which he advocated the cessation of the bombing and a political solution, the knowledge that the aggressor's missiles have also been falling on suburban areas populated exclusively by Albanians, has also prompted the Pristina Albanians to return to the city.

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At a session chaired by Prime Minister Momir Bulatovic Yugoslav Prime Minister concluded Thursday's meeting between Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and Ibrahim Rugova was yet another confirmation of Yugoslavia's commitment to all disputes, including problems in Kosovo-Metohija, be solved by political means and dialogue.

The government reviewed a report on the current military, security and political situation caused by the Nato aggression against FR Yugoslavia and gave credit to all courageous defenders. It expressed its admiration to all the citizens of Yugoslavia who are resolutely, boldly and in an organized manner contributing to the defence of the country, normal economic activities and creation of conditions for eliminating the consequences of the criminal bombing. At the same time, columns of people, including members of all national communities fleeing in the face of Nato bombs, have found refuge in Serbia which is exposed to the bombing itself but is believed to be much safer. The criminal and senseless aggression of Nato, confronted with these facts, can by no means be justified. At the session, the Yugoslav government issued a number of decrees adjusting the country's legal and economic system to the declared state of war. Its basic commitment is to preserve the current legal and economic system to the greatest possible extent in view of the obligation to defend the FR Yugoslavia.

***

On the tenth day of the aggression against Yugoslavia, aircraft of the NATO criminal alliance continue bombing military facilities and civilian settlements.

At around 4 o'clock this morning began the NATO aviation's air-strike against Vranje. Four missiles were fired at the One Thousand Three Hundred Corporals barracks damaging the pavilion and three facilities in the military compound's circle. There were no human casualties. Windows on a number of residential facilities were smashed, as well as on the bus station and DIV tobacco factory.

At around 2 a.m., the NATO aviation fired four missiles on the municipality of Kursumlija. One missile hit the house of Vucina Stavanovic on Samokovo Brdo. He was killed and his brother sustained serious injuries. One missile fell in the proximity of the medieval monastery of Holy Mother of God, and the other two on the nearby village of Pepeljevac, damaging the Kursumlija-Prokuplje railway. The electric power station was also targeted, and the strong detonations damaged tens of houses and the hall of the Sedmi Juli ready-made clothing factory. There are no military facilities in the vicinity.

At around 11 a.m., the planes of the criminal alliance bombed the region of Klina in Metohija.

At the same time, targeted was Stari Trg near Kosovska Mitrovica. The banned cassette-bombs were used in the strikes. Minor material damage was inflicted on the military facilities, whereas a number of civilian facilities was damaged. There are no wounded among the Yugoslav Army members.

Tanjug reports that the NATO aggressor plane which took off from the direction of Macedonia, launched missiles on the TV transmitter on Mt. Cvilen above Prizren at 11:45. In the bombing of Nogavac village near Orahovac last night, one person was killed and another died of the sustained injuries. Both persons are of Albanian nationality. Another six Albanians were seriously wounded in the attack. The head of Prizren hospital's surgical ward was wounded by cassette-bomb shells.

Cassette-bombs were also used in the attacks on Serb villages near Slatina airport, belonging to Lipljan municipality. There are no casualties, but great material damage was inflicted. The radar on the Goles radio transmitter was slightly damaged.

In the cassette-bomb attack on Vrelo and Magura, inhabited by Serbs and Albanians, ten people were wounded, Serbian Radio and Television reported.

Aggressor planes flew over Mt. Prokletije last night, which the ethnic Albanian terrorist gangs used for constant attacks on the security bodies, especially in the villages of Pec municipality. All the attacks were repelled.

In Belgrade, sirens announced the end of air-raid alert at 8:17 a.m., which sounded at 9 p.m. last night.

***

The Pentagon has confirmed the identity of the three servicemen whom the Yugoslav Army captured in Yugoslavia's territory on March 31.

A statement says at issue are lieutenants Andrew Ramirez and Christopher Stone while the third prisoner is claimed to be the member of a special unit. A top Nato official in Brussels who wished to remain anonymous, told the Manifesto daily newspaper that the arrested American servicemen had most probably been members of a special group which had illegally crossed over to Kosovo-Metohija with the intention to designate ground facilities.

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The Yugoslav government's committee for collecting evidence about the committed crimes against humanity and international law on Friday addressed a letter to the chief prosecutor of the International Hague Tribunal, Louise Arbour, expressing astonishment at the fact that so far she had done nothing in regard to Nato crimes and incessant military activities against Yugoslavia.

The letter said that so far Nato had committed crimes against Yugoslavia and its citizens which represented flagrant violation of international law. The Yugoslav government's committee for crimes recalls that all the citizens of FR Yugoslavia, regardless of their national affiliation, are, to a smaller or greater extent, victims of Nato's aggression bearing in mind public threats of further aggression. The Yugoslav citizens are being threatened with the hardest of crimes, a genocide whose elements exist even now.

***

At the Federal Foreign Affairs Ministry on Friday a briefing was held for foriegn ambassadors, heads of missions, and missions of the international organizations accredited in Belgrade, and it was devoted to the consequences of the Nato aggression on the FR Yugoslavia.

Stressed at the briefing was that, with the criminal Nato aggression against the FR Yugoslavia, the US is trying to create a precedent of imposing its power on the entire world by means of an intervention and the violation the international law and the UN Charter. It was also pointed to the fact that this aggression represented an open threat to every country conducting an independent policy and protecting its legitimate state and national interests. A precedent is the fact thet the most powerful military alliance is directly cooperating with a terrorist and separatist organization in an attack against the territorial integrity of a sovereign state. It was also stressed that the aggerssor had planned and created a humanitarian catastrophe in an attempt to justify the continuation of its aggression and its monstrous consequences before the eyes of the world public. The target of Nato attacks were most often civilian facilities, which attests to the genocidal nature of the aggression, it was said at the briefing at the Federal Foreign Affairs Ministry. 'We will resolutely defend the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the FR Yugoslavia from the US-led Nato aggression. By doing so we are also defending the international laws, justice, principles of the UN and democracy in international relations. The entire state and political leadership, political parties, and the citizens of the FR Yugoslavia are unanimous in this stand. Law and justice are on the side of the FR Yugoslavia. Also 1underlined was the fact that the FR Yugoslavia firmly mantained the position that a peaceful, political solution, guaranteeing full equality to all national communities in Kosovo-Metohija is the only just and acceptable solution. An appeal was addressed to all the countries and international organizations calling on them to condemn the aggression and invest efforts in its unconditional and immediate halting.

***

Protests at NATO's brutal aggression against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia continue throughout the world.

On Friday evening, several hundred thousand citizens of northern Greece, who sharply expressed their revolt over NATO's criminal bombardment, rallied in Thessaloniki. The entire rally and the concert in which famous Greek performers and public figures took part, was broadcast live by the state TV channel. The Greek Confederation of Workers and Employees on Friday organized a two-hour general strike throughout the country in protest against the aggression on Yugoslavia. Large protest gatherings were also held in Paris, Kopenhagen, Sofia, Budapest, Skopje and Bitolj. Announced for Saturday are also rallies in Vienna, Gratz, Bregentz and Insbruk.

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The presidents of the Commonwealth of Independent States, unanimously spoke against the bombing of Yugoslavia, said Byelorussian President Alexander Lukashenko after the summit in Moscow on Friday.

We are for a peaceful, just solution, said Lukashenko, stressing: The fire in Yugoslavia should be extinguished, because, if it is not extinguished, anything might happen. In the assessment of the president of Belarus, Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny

Primakov's visits to Belgrade and Bonn have sent a signal for the beginning of negotiations on the peaceful settlement of the situation in Yugoslavia. The Europeans, however, under US pressure, did not accept this signal from the hands of the Russians. The chairman of the Ukrainian Supreme Council, Alexander Tkachenko, on Friday spoke in favour of Russia, Ukraine and other countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States sending greater aid to Yugoslavia, including military. Offering military and technical help to Yugoslavia is not only needed, but we owe this to Yugoslavia too, Tkachenko emphasized.

***

Kosmet Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova arrived from Paris to Belgrade at his own initiative to meet Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said in Moscow on Friday.

No one coerced Rugova to make this move, Ivanov said. According to him, the Kosmet Albanians are not at all aspiring to secede Kosovo-Metohija from Yugoslavia and are prepared to live in a united state. Speaking about Russia's initiatives for a peaceful settlement of the Kosmet problem, Ivanov said it was necessary to consider the format and topic of further talks on this Serbian province. He added that Nato bombings destroyed the results of the Rambouillet talks and the documents reviewed there. Ivanov also underlined that air-strikes against Yugoslavia were carried out almost exclusively by US forces and said for this reason it could only conditionally be called international action.

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In a series of interviews to US TV networks, the head of the Yugoslav mission to the UN, ambassador Vladislav Jovanovic, on Friday said that the meeting between Slobodan Milosevic and Ibrahim Rugova had been important and successfull since on this occasion expressed had been their joint stand that a political solution was the only way out of the crisis.

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China has resolutely called on Nato to curb its military operation against Yugoslavia in order for the Kosovo-Metohija issue to be brought back to the negotiating table for the sake of a political solution, Chinese vice-president Hu Jintao said at a meeting with the vice-president of Yemen, Abdo Hadie, in Beijing.

Jintao said the escalation of Nato's military operations against Yugoslavia had elicited strong opposition worldwide.

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The Canadian government salutes every attempt at resolving the crisis in FR of Yugoslavia, said Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Exworthy.

Canada welcomes the initiative of Russian President Boris Yeltsin for scheduling a meeting of the G-8 members' foreign ministers, which is to review the situation in FR of Yugoslavia and the possible ways to curb NATO's aggression. Exworthy emphasized that concrete steps in this direction would be welcomed by the entire international community.

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A reconnaissance ship of the Russian Black Sea fleet Liman has set out from Sevastopol towards the Mediterranean, the press service of the Russian Navy announced.

Russia has informed Turkey that another six Russian war ships will pass through Bosphorous whereas the exact date of their departure has not yet been set.

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The Yugoslav government has authorized the Yugoslav Ministry for Labour, Health-care and Social Welfare to co-ordinate the reception of international humanitarian aid due to the humanitarian disaster caused by an aggression against this country.

The Ministry's telephone numbers are 311-76-26 (which is also its fax number), 691-332 and 602-522. All foreign donors who wish to aid FR Yugoslavia can make their contributions in hard currency to the account opened with the Komercijalna Banka AD Beograd whose number is 57920-7455321. A special account is envisaged for contributions in Dinars and its number is: 40818-743-0-2512.

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Beijing's official stand is that NATO's aggression against Yugoslavia must cease without delay, since it is causing the suffering of civilians and represents a serious threat to peace and stability in the region and Europe at large. It is NATO who is causing a humanitarian tragedy with its atrocious invasion of Yugoslavia, it is stressed in the editorials of Beijing newspapers. "No rhetoric can justify NATO's self-proclaimed peace initiative." writes the CHINA DAILY, a Chinese daily newspaper in the English language, stressing that the aggressors are hitting numerous civilian facilities, including schools and hospitals, and that civilians are the victims of cruel bombardment.

The criminals of NATO, led by the US, have caused a humanitarian disaster in the Balkans with their brutal aggression against FR Yugoslavia, assessed Dubravka Zverzhanovski, advisor at the FR Yugoslavia's embassy in Vienna. " The citizens of Kosovo-Metohija are fleeing from the NATO aggressor's bombs." she pointed out in an interview to Vienna newspaper DIE PRESSE, rejecting all claims of an alleged forceful expelling. "In addition to military facilities, the NATO aggressor has also been targeting civilian ones" she said, recalling that hit have been the accommodation facilities of Serbian refugees from Croatia and Bosnia, as well as schools, hospitals, and monasteries. Zverzhanovski pointed out that the West knew from the beginning that the FR Yugoslavia could not accept the forged agreement from Rambouillet. These negotiations only served as an excuse for the criminal NATO to attack the FR Yugoslavia.

So far, 2,000 tons of bombs have been dropped on Yugoslavia, including bombs banned by international conventions, Indian newspapers on Friday cite the Yugoslav ambassador to New Delhi, Cedomir Strbac, as saying. The NATIONAL HERALD carries Strbac's words that "there is no genocide in Kosmet" and that "this is the unscrupulous fabrication of the western media", while the ASIAN AGE, in an article entitled "CASHMERE VALLEY - POTENTIAL KOSOVO" writes that India should be concerned over the situation, since Kosmet is a precedent which can be repeated anywhere - including Cashmere.

The United States knows of only one religion, and that is war, member of the Italian Communist Party Marco Rizo said commenting on Bill Clinton's firm refusal to accept the appeal of Pope John Paul II to cease bombing FR Yugoslavia during Easter. The daily REPUBLICA writes that Washington had rejected the Pope's proposal directly, sharply and concisely, but also that it has shown complete indifference towards Moscow's attempts to launch dialogue, that is to hold a ministerial meeting of Group G-8 members. The ANSA news agency assesses that America's negative stand was like a cold shower for the allies and their hope for the renewal of a political and diplomatic initiative, precisely at the moment when Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic met Ibrahim Rugova in Belgrade, expressing his readiness for a political solution.

Uzi Landau, member of the Israeli parliament's ruling Likud party, told the eminent Israeli newspaper MAARIV that the bombing of Yugoslavia is by no means a way to resolve the problems in Kosovo-Metohija. He also recalled that the Serbs befriended the Jews in the World War II, while the Muslims of the Balkans volunteered to fight on the side of the German army.

In France, whose government is itself dividedregarding NATO's criminal aggression against Yugoslavia, the number of voices raised against the barbarian bombing and for a political solution to the conflict is increasing. On Friday, they were joined by the French Association of Democratic Lawyers, who "energetically condemned" NATO's aggression against Yugoslavia. Georges Sarre, the delegated chairman of the " Civil movement", whose member is also French Interior Minister Jean-Pierre Chevenment, assessed that "lessons should be learned from the fiasco" of NATO's aggression against Yugoslavia, and "everything should be brought back to political tracks as soon as possible". In an article published on Friday in LE FIGARO daily, Sarre also accused the NATO aggressor of causing with its bombardment "a humanitarian disaster, which it is allegedly truing to prevent.

It was a bad day for the aggressors, many world media conclude on Friday in view of two events on Thursday which shocked Washington, London, and Bonn. The London TIMES describes this bad day for the aggressors as "two great victories of Slobodan Milosevic" corroborating this conclusion with the capturing of three American soldiers and the Yugoslav president's meeting with Ibrahim Rugova. It is hard to say which of the two events attracted greater attention among the world public. What they have in common is that they both echoes like thunder from a blue sky, and, if at issue were not such serious matters as the criminal aggression against Yugoslavia, it would really be amusing to observe how unskillfully and without any arguments the NATO aggressors are trying to alleviate these two, for them undoubtedly severe blows.

Copyright (C.) Radio Yugoslavia