Friday April 30, 1999

Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic on Friday received Viktor Chernomyrdin, the special envoy of Russian President Boris Yeltsin.

Expressed in the talks was the joint orientation in favor of a peaceful solution to the problem, in regard to which special importance was attached to the joint efforts of and cooperation between the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Russia. It was agreed that talks continue on issues of interest for the restortion of peace on Yugoslav territory, so as to find an acceptable plan that would ensure the basis for a political resolution of the open problems. It was pointed out that the key to the solution for the problems in Kosovo-Metohija represented the equality of all national communities living in the region, this also being the point of departure for a political process that would be conducted through direct talks in Kosovo-Metohija. The talks were attended by Serbian President Milan Milutinovic, Yugoslav Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic, Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Marjanovic, the Russian ambassador to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Yuri Kotov and other personalities.

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The head of the Information Service of the Yugoslav Army, Milivoje Novakovic, said on Friday that by striking empty buildings of the General Staff and Defence Ministry in downtown Belgrade which claimed several civilian lives, Nato overstepped the limit of military logic and took the road of vindictive and pathological destruction of the Yugoslav capital.

He told a press conference at the Yugoslav Army press center that at the beginning of this alliance's military operations against Yugoslavia Nato commanders were aware of the fact that both buildings had been evacuated but that, lacking real military successes, they needed a symbolic gesture to prove their superiority. Yugoslav assistant Foreign Minister, Nebojsa Vujovic, who is also spokesman for the Yugoslav Foreign Ministry, said that in the overnight attack by the Nato aggressors on the buildings in downtown Belgrade, three people were killed and another 40 heavily injured. He added that 24 heavily injured Belgraders had been taken to the Emergency Medical Center, thirteen to the St Sava hospital and three to the Military-Medical Academy. The spokesman for the Yugoslav Foreign Ministry said that the latest bombing of the very heart of Belgrade - the Supreme Command and Defence Ministry buildings was yet another crime against humanity which represented an attack on not only civilians but the political process and diplomatic initiatives as well. Despite this, Vujovic said, the political process continues and intensifies through the latest statement by Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and direct talks between Serbia's President Milan Milutinovic and Kosmet Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova.

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Nato aggressors continue their onslaughts on cities and regions in Yugoslavia.

Four civilians were killed in Friday's criminal Nato bombardment of two villages, 15 kilometeres from Pristina, reports the Pristina Media Center. The Nato aggressors on Friday also struck at the Slatina airfield in Pristina and the region of Mt Goles in the municipality of Lipljan. The airport was hit by two projectiles. The region of Mt Goles was struck by several missiles in two attacks and five aerial bombs. Enemy aircraft are still overflying the capital of Kosovo-Metohija and its environs.

Criminal Nato warplanes struck the region of the Leposavic municipality earlier on Friday. One missile hit a railway bridge over the Ibar river in the village of Bojiste. The aggressors also targeted with three projectiles a railway bridge over the Ibar in the village of Jerinja.

The Nato aggressors hit with three missiles the Yugoslav satellite station in Prilike near Ivanjica. This is the third attack on this telecommunications facility establishing telephone and TV lines with western Europe and other continents. The station is practically destroyed and massive damage was caused to civilian facilities in nearby villages. Prior to this attack, the village of Prijanovici near Pozega was struck by three missiles. In Cacak, one detonation was heard and is believed to be a sonic boom from a Nato aircraft.

Tanjug reports that the Uzice region was exposed to heavy attacks by Nato criminal aircraft. A number of missiles was fired on the region of Mt Zlatibor where there are no military facilities.

Nato planes have been overflying the Raska district since this morning. Targeted has been Novi Pazar Spa and three missiles hit the Kopaonik national park. Two missiles struck at the village of Vitanovac near Kraljevo. Tanjug reported casualties in this attacks since shrapnels hit a bus passing by.

The residents of Nis heard a strong blast which most probably was a sonic boom from a Nato warplane since no reports have been received about the aggressors' activities in the broader Nis region.

On Friday morning, one Nato missile slammed into the village of Vezirovo Brdo not far from downtown Cuprija where cottages of the residents of Cuprija and Paracin are situated. Tanjug reports that the projectile partly exploded but there are no reports about the possible damage.

Continuing several-day-long ruthless strikes at the region of Kursumlija, Nato warplanes hit for a sixth time a bridge near Selo Visoko in this municipality. Huge damage was caused to civilian and private facilities and a flyover situated in the vicinity of the bridge.

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Nato aggressor warplanes carried out the heaviest aerial overnight assaults across Yugoslavia inflicting damage on civilian facilities.

In an overnight aggressor attack on Belgrade, the Yugoslav Army's air defences downed several missiles. Nato aircraft damaged the TV transmission tower on Mt Avala and hit the Studio B transmitter in the Belgrade district of Borca. In a repeated attack by Nato aggressors at 2.15. a.m, which lasted almost half an hour, criminal Nato warplanes targeted residential facilities in the vicinity of the Kalenic market-place in downtown Belgrade. At the same time, the aggressors struck at the Defence Ministry building and the Yugoslav Army General Staff building situated in Knez Milos Street also in downtown Belgrade. The Belgrade Emergency Medical Center said at least nine people were injured in Belgrade overnight. One person was injured during the strike at the transmission tower on Mt Avala while at least seven people were wounded during the bombing of residential facilities in downtown Belgrade. Tanjug reports that the so far heaviest aerial attack on Belgrade also claimed lives.

The region of Kosovo-Metohija came under fresh attacks by Nato aggressors overnight. Criminal Nato warplanes fired more than 20 projectiles on civilian targets in the vicinity of Pristina. Shortly after midnight, Nato aircraft attacked with five missiles the Slatina civilian airport near Pristina. There was a repeated attack after 25 minutes which hit the village of Belacevac populated exclusively by members of Albanian nationality. Tanjug reports that enemy aircraft struck at the Ajvalija district, also populated exclusively by Albanians. At the same time, hit was the Grmija excursion place, the Sofalija village and a fuel dump in the Devet Jugovica settlement.

On Thursday, Nato aggressors launched a dozen projectiles on the broader Gnjilane region and Vitina in Kosovo-Metohija. Six missiles hit a bridge near the village of Pasjana while two cluster bombs slammed into the residential area in the vicinity of a secondary school in Vitina causing immense material damage. According to eyewitnesses' accounts, during the attack hit and damaged was one criminal warplane which discharged a thick pall of smoke on its way back to Macedonia.

The Nato aggressors also hit the Pec region overnight. Two missiles hit the village of Belo Polje, Tanjug reports. Also pumelled were the village of Svrke and Ljutoglava in the municipality of Pec. There are no military facilities in these villages. In the municipality of Klina also targeted were civilian and industrial facilities, an electrical transformer station and part of railway tracks near the Metohija railway station.

Thirty minutes after midnight, enemy aircraft once again targeted with two projectiles the oil refinery in Novi Sad situated in the vicinity of the Shanghai district.

Serbian Radio and Television's TV transmitter also came under attack by the western alliance's aggressor warplanes on a hill near Vrsac. Three highly destructive blasts shook the region inflicting damage upon residential facilities on the slopes of the hill and the Psychiatric Hospital. One patient was injured in the attack.

The aggressors also struck at the Indjija region where a strong detonation was heard.

Overnight, the aggressors hit several bridges, civilian facilities and the medieval monastery of Holy Mother of God and St Nicolas in the Kursumlija area. One missile hit the already damaged bridge on the Kursumlija-Podujevo road and the railway bridge on the Kursumlija-Kosovo Polje railway.

Nato criminal planes also struck at facilities in the broader Uzice region. Tanjug reports the Yugoslav Army's air defences put up strong resistance and deflected the aggressor aircraft from firing death-dealing missiles on the Uzice region.

The Krusik factory in Valjevo was hit by three missiles overnight. In the sixth attack on the one-time greatest Valjevo company there were no casualties. Three detonations were also heard at the foot of Mt Divcibare near Valjevo.

Nato aggressors pounded the region between Prokuplje and Zitoradja. Targeted was a bridge on the Nis-Prokuplje-Pristina road. Surdulica came under fresh attack overnight as well. Four missiles were fired on the village of Zaguzanje.

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The tragic toll of Friday's criminal bombing of Trstenik's old bridge by the NATO aggressors' aviation, which was razed with five projectiles at 2.15 p.m. is the death of one still unidentified female person and 17 injured people, two of whom sustained serious injuries. Unfortunately, according to the Surveillance and Information Center of Trstenik, the list of killed is not final. All the injured have been treated at the Trstenik Medical Center and have been released home.

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The TV transmission tower on Mt Avala, one of Belgrade's symbols, destroyed in an overnight attack by the Nato aggressors, represented an architectural masterpiece because of which it has a special protection status.

The 195m-high tower on Mt Avala was built in 1965 according to a project by Ugljesa Bogunovic, Slobodan Janic and engineer Milan Krstic.

***

The information service of the Second Army District's command has assessed that since the beginning of the NATO aggression against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, members of the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army have unsuccessfully been attempting to consolidate their ranks.

After crossing the border, refugees from Kosovo-Metohija are met by US marines, to whom terrorists of the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army have forwarded lists of all men. Women and children are directed towards Albania's interior, while men are immediately sent to training camps, says the statement of the Second Army District's Command.

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In the latest attack by Nato aggressor warplanes on Golubovci airport and nearby civilian places, used were, as a number of times, lethal cluster bombs banned by international conventions, a statement from the Information Service of the Second Army's Command said.

This inhumane and perfidious weapon is intended for mass destruction of manpower out in the open and for this reason, it is used in attacks against moving columns, combat positions, command posts and liaison centers, the statement said. Unable to take Yugoslav Army units unawares and insufficiently camouflaged, the Nato aggressors most frequently used this bombs to hit civilian settlements and kill innocent civilians, the statement from the Information Service of the Second Army said.

***

The chairman of the Yugoslav Parliament Chamber of Citizens, Milomir Minic, on Friday received a delegation of religious leaders and distinguished US figures fighting for peace, headed by Jesse Jackson.

In the talks, Jackson stressed that the aim of his visit was to acquaint himself on the spot with the humanitarian situation in Yugoslavia, gather information and knowledge which could make possible an action for putting a halt to the bombardment of Yugoslavia and lay foundations for finding a political solution to the Kosmet problem. Chairman Minic informed his collocutors about the consequences of the criminal NATO aggression against our country and nation, pointing to the necessity of urgently ending the bombardment. Minic emphasized that this would remove the greatest impediment which makes impossible a political solution in Kosovo-Metohija. He stressed that the authorized Serbian and Yugoslav state bodies were doing everything in their power to continue and propel the political process aimed at finding a political settlement, to return the displaced population to its homes and create conditions for establishing mutual trust, lasting and just peace in the southern Serbian province.

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The bombing of the Serbian television building is tantamount to the bombing of NBC or CNN, when the employees are at their working places, the American fighter for human rights, Jesse Jackson told journalists in front of the severely damaged RTS building on Friday.

He stressed that the war which caused human casualties and suffering, and incited violence, must cease immediately. Accompanied by representatives of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Jackson toured a number of bombed sites in Belgrade, including the residential facilities in Vracar, which were damaged in the course of Thursday night and in which a number of civilians were killed. Calling for an end to violence in Yugoslavia, Jackson emphasized that he was encouraged by his Friday meeting with Serbian Patriarch Pavle, adding: They want the bombing to stop, and we all want the bombing to stop. Jackson arrived in Belgrade on Thursday in, as he put it, a humanitarian mission, in the framework of which he would like to visit the three US servicemen captured by the Yugoslav Army after their illegal entrance to the territory of FR of Yugoslavia.

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The Yugoslav ambassador to Moscow, Borislav Milosevic, confirmed, on Friday in an interview to the Italian daily LA STAMPA, that the authorities in Belgrade can accept only civilian international representatives under UN auspices and from countries that are not taking part in the war against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

We are ready to reduce our military and police forces in Kosovo-Metohija to the level of October last year, said Ambassador Milosevic, adding that the insistence on the NATO troops' withdrawal from the Yugoslav border represents official Belgrade's concession, in view of the fact that the Yugoslav authorities had previously requested that NATO forces withdraw from Macedonia and Albania.

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With its statement of April 29, the International Court of Justice in The Hague confirmed the reception of the Yugoslav request for this court to institute proceedings against the NATO member countries which, with their brutal aggression against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, have violated the UN Charter, as well as the basic principles and norms of international law, said the Yugoslav foreign ministry spokesman, Nebojsa Vujovic.In response to our request, the Court has scheduled a hearing for May 10 and 11.

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The NATO aggression against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia has trampled on the UN Charter, numerous international conventions and agreements, and practically on the entire international law, said Serbian Justice Minister Dragoljub Jankovic, speaking to representatives of the Lawyers' Chamber of Athens who are visiting Belgrade.

The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia has neither attacked nor endangered anyone, and our country's only guilt is its rejection to be occupied, to have part of it forcibly secede and to accept foreign military troops on its territory without its consent, Jankovic pointed out, adding that these stands and decisions of ours are based precisely on the UN Charter. According to the republican justice minister, it is only when NATO bombs started hitting that there appeared refugees, belonging to all nations and nationalities living in Kosovo-Metohija.

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The chairman of the Provisional Executive Council of Kosovo-Metohija, Zoran Andjelkovic, held a meeting in Pristina on Friday with the heads of districts, heads of district civil defense headquarters and municipal council chairmen, which was also attended by the republican minister of agriculture, water management and forestry, Dr.Jovan Babovic, and his aides.

According to the statement issued by the provincial information secretariat, it was pointed out at the meeting that the civilian authorities were functioning well in the war-time circumstances, and that all the current problems are resolved as they come. Humanitarian assistance to the afflicted population is being regularly delivered through the Red Cross, regardless of the people's national and religious affiliation.

***

The Kosovo Democratic Initiative unyieldingly and resolutely supports the Yugoslav leadership's efforts invested in the search for a political and peaceful solution to problems in Kosovo-Metohija, the party exclusively rallying Kosmet Albanians said.

In this context, a statement said, Albanians rallied in the Kosovo Democratic Initiative fully support talks between Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and the Russian President's special envoy Viktor Chernomyrdin. This party is against any violence, Nato's heavy destruction and killings. It said it stood firmly by the side of Albanian nation which linked its own history to that of Serbia and Yugoslavia.

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The presidents of Russia and the US ought to meet as soon as possible in order to review ways of peacefully resolving the crisis in the Balkans, the president of the South African Republic, Nelson Mandela said in Moscow on Friday.

He decisively spoke against the use of force in international relations and pointed to the impermissibility of a group of countries taking action without paying heed to the opinion of the UN and the Security Council. According to Mandela, the UN is the only organization which can pass decisions on international problems. President Mandela spoke about the situation caused by NATO's aggression on Yugoslavia with Russian President Boris Yeltsin on Thursday. On Friday, he met the leader of the Communist Party of Russia, Gennady Zyuganov.

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Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov has had talks in Moscow with Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Exworthy about the situation in the Balkans.

At a joint press conference, Ivanov stressed that thoroughly reviewed had been the principles on which to build a program for a peaceful settlement of the crisis, adding that the United Nations should play an important role in resolving the problems in Kosovo-Metohija. In regard to NATO's intention to impose an embargo on oil deliveries to Yugoslavia, and to enforce the ban by all available means, the Russian foreign minister reiterated that Russia was acting in accordance with its decisions based on the UN Charter and that NATO decision can be valid only for the alliance's members. Speaking about the same issue, the Canadian foreign minister stressed that his country had received no recommendations from NATO and that it had no instructions regarding the imposition of the economic embargo. If they are passed, legal grounds should be ensured for such decisions, said Exworthy, stressing that in order to resolve the crisis in the Balkans it is necessary to strengthen the role of the United Nations in that process.

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NATO's bombing of Yugoslavia has not only not forced the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to fall on its knees, but has rather only strengthened its unity, stresses the leading Chinese daily ~Zhenmin Zhibao~. Even the leaders of certain NATO countries ~had to admit that they had underestimated President Slobodan Milosevic and the Yugoslav people~, writes the Chinese daily. The newspaper points out to the aggressors that history can serve as a warning, especially in regard to the plans to launch a ground aggression, emphasizing the Yugoslav nation's heroic resistance to the fascist aggression in World War II.

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NATO has admitted that the Yugoslav Army is too tough a nut for the aggressor to crack, writes the NEW YORK TIMES on its front page, stressing that the Yugoslav Army's morale, readiness and capability to defend the country are extremely high.

The daily assesses that all the Serbs have resolutely rallied around their flag, and the country's defense is everyone's only goal. Despite public assurances concerning the operation's success, information from NATO intelligence sources say, according to this daily, that this is not so even by far. Thanks to its exceptional skill, the Yugoslav Army had avoided greater damage, and the NATO aggressor has strengthened even more the Yugoslav Army, as the pillar and skeleton of the country's strong defense, writes the WASHINGTON POST. The entire campaign, as the aggression against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is hypocritically called in the United States, is having only a marginal effect on Yugoslavia's military potential and its defensive abilities, which, according to the newspaper, has also been admitted by Wesley Clark himself.

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The bombing of Radio and Television of Serbia in the NATO aggression against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is classical murder, said, on Friday, leading British playwright Harold Pinter.

Pinter's message to the British government is that the NATO aggression, and especially the bombing of Television Serbia, is in collision with all world conventions, violating all the valid rules in the international community.

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Belarus will do everything, both on the humanitarian and diplomatic plane, to help end the aggression against Yugoslavia, said assisstant Belarussian President Viktor Kuchinski who escorted a convoy of humanitarian aid intended for Yugoslavia.

President Lukashenko, the government and the entire Belarussian nation will do everything under international law to help halt Nato's aggression against your country, Kuchinski said and added no bombs could solve the problems.

The relief includes food, clothing and footwear and will be delivered to the regions most affected by the aggression. This is the second humanitarian relief convoy sent by Belarus to FR Yugoslavia.

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The Socialist Party of Serbia has issued a statement on the occasion of May 1 - International Labour Day.

Heroes of labour have become the heroes of defence - that is how we mark May 1 - the international labour holiday. With their beastly bombardment, NATO murderers have destroyed many companies in our country. Our workers - fighters on the day of this international holiday, are defending the authentic values of freedom and work. By defending the freedom of our country, we are defending freedom and the right to work and are creating conditions for eliminating the consequences of the aggression, for renewing the country and making possible its further development, it is said in the statement.

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The people and all the citizens of our country are united and unyielding to persevere, headed by President Slobodan Milosevic, in the defence of the country and its freedom and independence from the NATO aggressor, says a resolute message from Friday's meeting of the chairmen of district committees of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), presided over by SPS Secretary General Gorica Gajevic.

The statement emphasizes that the anger due to the failure of his military machine the aggressor was now taking out by killing civilians and destroying facilities which serve exclusively civilian purposes. SPS welcomes the joint statement by Serbian President Milan Milutinovic and Dr Ibrahim Rugova as a concrete victory of the efforts to, by strengthening trust, reach political agreement on the principles of the equality of citizens, national communities and the respect of Serbia's and Yugoslavia's sovereignty and territorial integrity. We expect these results to be respected and supported by the international community by ending the aggression, thus eliminating the obstacles to a political settlement, concludes the statement.

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Concluding at its Friday session that under way was the 38th day of NATO's fierce destruction and murderous crimes, the Yugoslav Left's Directorate pointed to the courage and gigantic spiritual, moral and physical superiority of our country's nation.

All the citizens are demonstrating enormous strength which has surpassed the power of tyranny and accomplished the historical role in preserving the fatherland and nation. Now as well as throughout history, the moral magnitude of Yugoslavia has been confirmed for all generations, stressed the statement. The Yugoslav Left believes that the national solidarity, unity and togetherness demonstrated during the aggression on our country was impressive and that through it our people overcame the difficulties at the most difficult times. This is how Yugoslavia creates conditions to realize a dignified future for all its citizens, for all the nations living in it and for all the people and states in the Balkans. This time again, the Directorate emphasized that the policy of our state leadership was both national and ours, and that only through this policy and with diplomatic means can the country be defended and peace achieved. It will be the greatest victory of the progressive part of humankind and civilization over barbarity and the victory of life over evil -doing, concludes the Yugoslav Left's statement.

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The criminal NATO gang is deliberately tearing down factories, schools, hospitals, bridges and houses, and is trying to cause fear and destroy the morale of the citizens, not realizing that by cowardly unloading bombs they only provoked anger, spite and readiness to defend itself among our people, the Serbian Radical Party stated. The Serbian radicals do not for a moment doubt in the victory of our defence forces, as the national unity, determination, but also the obligation to preserve its own territory represented a strong fortification which cannot be levelled by NATO's missiles, the statement emphasizes.

***

An earthquake which measured 5 on the Richter, that is, 7 and 8 on the Mercali scale shook Belgrade at 5.30 a.m. on Friday.

According to the Serbian seismological institute, the epicenter of the quake, which was felt almost in the whole of Serbia, was in the Valjevo region. The first reports say the quake caused no major material damage. At 9.41 a.m. the Serbian Seismological Institute registered yet another quake which measured 4.7 on the Richter, that is 6 on the Mercali scale. The renewed tremor was felt in Belgrade and other parts in central Serbia.

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Two trucks carrying humanitarian relief sent by the Yugoslav Left's Directorate arrived in Surdulica which was savagely flattened in an attack by Nato enemy aircraft on April 27.

The trucks carried some 15 tonnes of tinned food. Drazenko Grabez, deputy director of the Yugoslav Left's technical service said Nato warplanes, under the pretext of preventing a humanitarian disaster, actually caused a veritable humanitarian catastrophe and non-selectively killed a number of people, mostly children.

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More than one month-old Nato brutal aggression against Yugoslavia has prompted many citizens and firms to assist the Yugoslav Army.

Material aid and gifts for the Yugoslav Army were presented by a number of companies and political organizations. Numerous are examples of solidarity expressed by patriots and humanists including that of soldier Marjan Mamic of the Podgorica Corps who donated funds for the family members of Yugoslav Army soldiers who were killed in the war between 1991 and 1992. Also striking is the example of Slavomir Minic of Novi Pazar who replaced his sick son, a soldier himself.

***

Activists of the Saloniki anti-war organizations on Friday morning blocked all the ways out of the port of Saloniki, which was the centre of soldiers in NATO uniforms in the past weeks.

According to announcements, this citizens' drive, which will paralyze all the ways out of the port will last until Saturday evening. The citizens of Saloniki on Thursday night continued their protest rallies. Over a thousand participants rallied at Aristotle Square in sign of support to the citizens of Yugoslavia and to condemn NATO's brutal aggression.

***

In the region of the village of Ostrilci, on the Krusevo - Demir Hisar road, the local inhabitants saw the carbonated bodies of two pilots who had attempted to eject.

Soon after the fall of the aircraft and the pilots' death, there appeared helicopters of the western alliance taking away the pilots' bodies and certain parts of the downed plane, confirmed inhabitants of the village of Ostrilci.

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A delegation of UNICEF on Friday visited the children's hospital within the Dragisa Misovic Clinical Medical Centre which suffered considerable damage in NATO's strikes.

The director of the children's hospital, Dr Zorica Zivkovic, told the delegation members that there were 14 children aged between 8 months and 3 years at the hospital at the moment, whereas there were 15 babies at the neighbouring maternity ward. UNICEF members expressed horror at the criminal attack on the hospital, and the new head of Belgrade's UNICEF office, Yuri Oxamitniy, said that the organization would do everything in its power to help the afflicted children.

Copyright (C.) Radio Yugoslavia