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US

U.S.: Milosevic proposals fall 'far short'

Clinton
Clinton says NATO allies are firm in their resolve to stop Milosevic
498K/25 sec. AIFF or WAV sound

 ALSO
Primakov: Milosevic ready in principle to talk peace

NATO: 'New heights' of ethnic cleansing in Kosovo

 

March 30, 1999
Web posted at: 4:22 p.m. EST (2122 GMT)


In this story:

'Murdering innocent civilians'

RELATED STORIES, SITES icon



WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United States said Tuesday that the Yugoslav proposals obtained by Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov fall "far short" of what must be done before NATO will halt its air campaign against Serbia.

"Our position is clear. Milosevic must halt the offensive against the Kosovar Albanians, withdraw his forces and embrace a settlement based on the Rambouillet framework," State Department Spokesman James Rubin said.

Earlier Tuesday, President Clinton blamed Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic for "atrocities against innocent people" in Kosovo, and said the United States and NATO allies are "determined to stay with our policy" of airstrikes against Yugoslavia.

Speaking at the State Department, the president made no mention of a Yugoslav peace offer from Milosevic, who said earlier in the day that NATO airstrikes must stop before peace talks over Kosovo can resume.

NATO has said it won't stop the airstrikes unless Milosevic ends attacks on ethnic Albanians and agrees to accept a peacekeeping force in Kosovo under NATO leadership.

Responding to critics who say seven days of bombing have intensified the attacks on ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, Clinton said Serb assaults had increased before the air war began and prompted the allied action.

He said Serb attacks had left more than 500,000 homeless in the past year, and the NATO strikes were designed to stop what he said was clear evidence of atrocities.

"Countries from throughout the Balkans, from Greece to Turkey to Romania to Bulgaria, are helping us meet the mounting humanitarian crisis," Clinton said, and he thanked those countries for their aid.

'Murdering innocent civilians'

Clinton accused Milosevic of "pretending" to participate in recent peace talks on Kosovo while plotting a "new campaign of expulsions and executions" of ethnic Albanians.

"We have credible reports that his troops are singling out for murder the moderate Kosovar leaders who supported a peaceful solution," Clinton said.

Milosevic, he said, incited "ethnic and religious hatred as a justification for uprooting and murdering completely innocent, peaceful civilians to pave (his) path to absolute power."

The U.S. president also suggested that Milosevic's actions are increasing support for an independent Kosovo.

"Today, he faces the mounting cost of his continued aggression. For a sustained period, we will see that his military will be seriously diminished; key military infrastructure destroyed; the prospect for international support for Serbia's claim to Kosovo increasingly jeopardized," Clinton said.

"We must remain steady and determined with the will to see this through."

Yugoslav officials say the thousands of ethnic Albanian refugees leaving Kosovo are fleeing not from atrocities, but from fighting between the Yugoslav army and Kosovo Liberation Army "terrorists."

The KLA seeks independence for Kosovo, a province in southern Serbia.

Clinton made his comments during a ceremony unveiling a portrait of former Secretary of State Warren Christopher, who presided over the 1995 accords that ended the war in Bosnia.

Reuters contributed to this report.


RELATED STORIES:
U.S., world mobilize to aid Kosovo refugees
March 30, 1999
U.N. to airlift aid to refugees in Albania
March 30, 1999
Primakov in Belgrade, meets with Milosevic
March 30, 1999
Desperate refugees flee Kosovo, accuse Serbs of atrocities
March 29, 1999

RELATED SITES:
Yugoslavia:
  • Federal Republic of Yugoslavia official site
      • Kesovo and Metohija facts
  • Serbia Ministry of Information
  • Serbia Now! News

Kosovo:
  • Kosova Crisis Center
  • Kosova Liberation Peace Movement
  • Kosovo - from Albanian.com

Military:
  • NATO official site
  • BosniaLINK - U.S. Dept. of Defense
  • U.S. Navy images from Operation Allied Force
  • U.K. Ministry of Defence - Kosovo news
  • U.K. Royal Air Force - Kosovo news
  • Jane's Defence - Kosovo Crisis

Media:
  • Independent Yugoslav radio stations B92
  • Institute for War and Peace Reporting
  • United States Information Agency - Kosovo Crisis

Other:
  • 1997 view of Kosovo from space - Eurimage
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