EmergencyNet NEWS Service-Thursday, April 8, 1999-17:59CDT

CRISIS NEWS BRIEFS

SERBIA (EmergencyNet News) - Cypriot envoy Spyros Kyprianou arrived in Belgrade on Thursday to try to secure the release of three U.S. captured soldiers. But a source close to Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic said the three Americans would not be released despite the envoy's arrival.

SERBIA (EmergencyNet News) - NATO said on Thursday it was scoring hits against Serbian forces in Kosovo, but voiced fears that Yugoslav leaders might use thousands of refugees as human shields against alliance air strikes. The Yugoslav government issued a statement saying peace had returned to Kosovo following Belgrade's announcement of a unilateral cease-fire Tuesday night.

WASHINGTON (EmergencyNet News) - Defense officials said on Thursday that the United States is expected to send more warplanes to join NATO attacks on Serbia. The officials, who asked not to be identified, said the Pentagon expected to receive a firm request  soon for a package of additional attack and support jets from U.S. Army General Wesley Clark, the commander of NATO forces in Europe.

WASHINGTON (EmergencyNet News) - The United States Thursday dismissed a Yugoslav declaration that peace has been restored in Kosovo, saying it was part of a charm offensive by Yugoslav President  Slobodan Milosevic. P.J. Crowley, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council said: "Words and propaganda are not enough."

From the ERRI Watch Center

SERBIA (EmergencyNet News) - NATO on Thursday voiced fears that Yugoslav leaders might use thousands of refugees as human shields against alliance air strikes as NATO was scoring hits against Serbian forces in Kosovo. NATO also said there was no evidence that government forces had stopped attacking ethnic Albanian areas in the province, and its campaign of punitive air strikes on Serbian targets was being intensified.

Mixed signals emerged on the fate of three U.S. soldiers captured by the Serbs. Yugoslav Information Minister Milan Komnenic promised "good news" but a source close to President Slobodan  Milosevic said they would not be freed, despite the arrival of a Cypriot envoy in Belgrade. As Washington awaited word, defense officials said more U.S. warplanes were likely to be sent to join

NATO attacks, now in their third week. Some 270 U.S. planes are already taking part in the operation, which involves more than 600 NATO jets.

U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen told around 1,000 U.S. and NATO troops inside a hangar at Aviano alliance airbase in northeastern Italy: "Mr. Milosevic has carried all of us into the heart of darkness where justice amounts to nothing more than a bullet in the back of the brain."

European Union foreign ministers gave strong support to NATO air strikes and said Serbian leaders responsible for atrocities in Kosovo should be brought to justice. The ministers said after meeting in Luxembourg: "In the face of extreme and criminally irresponsible policies...the use of the severest measures, including military action, has been both necessary and warranted."

NATO spokesman Jamie Shea said plans were being drawn up for 8,000 troops to be sent to Albania to support relief efforts for the estimated 300,000 Kosovo Albanians who have fled to Albania since NATO bombing began on 24 March.

Inside Kosovo, from where reports of rape, murder and looting have become commonplace, NATO warplanes hunted Serb forces whom the West also blamed Thursday for massive, random destruction in Pristina. NATO said it had attacked a Yugoslav military convoy on the road in Kosovo and that the "tempo and effectiveness" of its raids was increasing.

The alliance's military spokesman Air Commodore David Wilby said Yugoslav radio and television facilities would now be a target because they had been used for propaganda and repression. NATO said all planes returned safely from their sorties -- nearly 400 in just 24 hours.

NATO sources said that during the past 24 hours, NATO planes had attacked a moving army column on the road between Djakovica and Decani with cluster bombs. An official at NATO headquarters said: "The targets included ground forces in Kosovo and several armored vehicles were knocked out. Mobile anti-aircraft guns were also hit."

But NATO military spokesmen say Yugoslav forces are hiding their armor and trying to time operations to coincide with lulls in the air attacks. For that reason, NATO is keeping planes over Kosovo for as long as possible, breaking up into smaller hunting groups to attack targets of opportunity.

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