EmergencyNet NEWS Service-Tuesday, April 6, 1999-17:51CDT

CRISIS NEWS BRIEFS

BELGIUM (EmergencyNet News) - NATO carried out its most extensive night of air raids against Yugoslav forces but admitted on Tuesday that one of its weapons may have missed its target in an attack in which Serbian media say five people died. Reports from Belgrade said the deaths occurred as a result of a missile strike on a residential area of the southern Serbian town of Aleksinac.

SERBIA (EmergencyNet News) - Serbian authorities declared a unilateral cease-fire in Kosovo effective Tuesday night but the West swiftly dismissed the announcement and said NATO air strikes on Yugoslavia would continue unabated. Serbian state television (RTS), quoting identical statements by the Yugoslav federal and Serbian republic governments, said: "(It was decided) to unilaterally cease all activities of army and police in Kosovo against the terrorist KLA (Kosovo Liberation Army) on the occasion of the biggest Orthodox Christian holiday, Easter, starting from April 6, 1999 at 2000 hours (1400.EDT) in expectation that such a decision will be seen as a gesture of good will..."

WASHINGTON (EmergencyNet News) - POTUS on Tuesday insisted that Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic must meet all of NATO's demands before the escalating air war against him would end. U.S. officials rejected an announcement by the Yugoslav government that it was declaring a unilateral cease-fire and an offer to allow refugees to return to Kosovo.

WASHINGTON (EmergencyNet News) - The Pentagon said on Tuesday that U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen will visit Brussels Wednesday to discuss the Kosovo operation with NATO leaders. DoD Spokesman Ken Bacon told reporters that Cohen, who was leaving Washington later Tuesday, would meet NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana as well as U.S. General Wesley Clark, NATO's supreme commander.

From the ERRI Watch Center

SERBIA (EmergencyNet News) - As many were expecting, Serbian authorities on Tuesday declared a unilateral ceasefire in Kosovo effective Tuesday night but the West quickly told the Serbian government what it could do with its ceasefire and dismissed the announcement as a ploy and said NATO air strikes on Yugoslavia would continue to pound Serbian targets.

Serbian state television (RTS), quoting identical statements by the Yugoslav federal and Serbian republic governments, said: "(It was decided) to unilaterally cease all activities of army and police in Kosovo against the terrorist KLA (Kosovo Liberation Army) on the occasion of the biggest Orthodox Christian holiday, Easter, starting from April 6, 1999 at 2000 hours (1400 EDT) in expectation that such a decision will be seen as a gesture of good will..."

Immediately after that announcement, the United States and Britain rebuffed the ceasefire and vowed to intensify bombing until Belgrade crys "uncle" and bows to all Western demands. Other NATO allies also rejected the news or received it skeptically. Western diplomats saw Belgrade's move as a gambit to split the West over the controversial aerial bombardment campaign. David Leavy, spokesman for the U.S. National Security Council, said: "We've made very clear that any hollow, half measures will not stop the bombing."

British Prime Minister Tony Blair called the truce plan "a diplomatic ploy" the West would "not fall for." French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin said air strikes would end only when Belgrade stopped oppressing ethnic Albanians, withdrew all military forces from the province, let refugees return home and started autonomy talks.

U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen said the ceasefire idea is "not only completely unacceptable but it's absurd." Accepting it, he said, would be an "abdication of responsibility by NATO." Cohen said he was flying to NATO headquarters in Belgium on Tuesday to consult with alliance military and political leaders. He said he was taking some members of Congress with him to show them "what is going on, what the plans are, to solidify support for the administration and just stay the course."

Today, 1,200 U.S. Marines aboard ships in the Aegean Sea prepared to move ashore at a Greek port and will establish a refugee camp for displaced Kosovars in northern Macedonia, possibly near the village of Cegrane. A U.S. defense official said the Marines received their orders Monday and soon will be providing food, water, medical services and shelter to thousands of refugees. The Marines are from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which has been in the Aegean for weeks.

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