Explosions light up the night sky in Smederevo Thursday night as shown on Serbian TV RELATED VIDEO Correspondent Jonathan Aiken shows how Serbian television is covering the Kosovo conflict (April 9) Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K CNN's Brent Sadler tours the devastation in Pristina (April 8) Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K CNN's Patricia Kelly reports on NATO's response to damage (April 8) Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K To view the latest video streams on the strikes in Yugoslavia, use the arrow buttons below to scroll through the video gallery.        Windows Media Real        28 K 80 K IMAGE GALLERY: Burning flags and rock concerts: Protesting the NATO strikes Devastation of Kosovo capital The Serbs and Kosovo  ALSO Envoy: No progress in talks on U.S. soldiers Yeltsin warns of possible world war over Kosovo Serbs reportedly planting land mines to create Kosovo 'no man's land' U.S. casts doubt on Cuban base as refugee site  MAPS NATO officials describe attacks from day one through day fifteen

In this story: Wide range of targets hit Fighting erupts on Albanian border Milosevic eyes Russia-Belarus union Britain: Serbs living in poverty Refugees and diplomacy RELATED STORIES, SITES

April 9, 1999
Web posted at: 9:23 a.m. EDT (1323 GMT)

LONDON (CNN) -- Britain's foreign secretary said Friday that Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic was "feeling the heat" and was looking for a way to escape the punishing NATO airstrikes, which the alliance said had again targeted Serb military units, fuel depots and field forces.

Robin Cook told a news conference in London that NATO would not accept any "empty gestures" from Milosevic.

"We will now only stop the NATO campaign if Milosevic makes an offer of real substance that meets NATO's key demands: a cease-fire on the ground and a halt to ethnic cleansing," Cook said.

NATO attacks on almost 150 targets clearly have taken a toll on Milosevic, Cook said, adding that the Yugoslav president now appeared far less confident during his appearances on Serbian television.

U.S. President Bill Clinton said Friday that Milosevic was still continuing his crackdown on ethnic Albanians in Kosovo and that NATO strikes would therefore continue.

Shortly after that statement from Washington, a special Cypriot envoy in Belgrade said he made no progress in winning the release of three U.S. soldiers held in Yugoslavia, despite a face-to-face meeting with Milosevic.

Wide range of targets hit

On Thursday night, the 16th night of air attacks, NATO aircraft attacked a wide range of targets. An auto factory and a fuel depot were claimed as the latest infrastructure casualties in the air campaign.

A Belgrade television station, Studio B, reported strikes on suburbs east of the Yugoslav capital and two towns farther away that were hit in earlier NATO raids -- Pancevo, a city on the Danube River west of Belgrade, and Kragujevac, southeast of the capital.

The station reported that in Kragujevac, the automobile factory "Zastava" was hit. TV Belgrade said several civilian buildings also were damaged in the town.

Serbian television said a fuel depot in Smederevo, east of the capital, was hit. According to Serbian TV, the depot was owned by one of the largest oil companies in Yugoslavia.

Fighting erupts on Albanian border

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe told CNN there was fighting Friday between Serbian forces and Kosovo Liberation Army guerrillas on the Yugoslav-Albanian border. The fighting was between the KLA on the Albanian side of the border and Yugoslav army forces in Kosovo. The KLA is seeking independence for Kosovo.

The OSCE said the fighting was "more than the usual border incident" and involved light arms and artillery.

The KLA set up a camp in the border area and has been recruiting new fighters from among Kosovo-Albanian refugees arriving in Albania from Kosovo, according to the OSCE.

Serbian TV says NATO bombings hit an assembly plant that is reported to produce the Yugo automobile

Britain: Serbs living in poverty

Britain on Friday again accused Milosevic of destroying his country economically, while enriching himself and the political elite supporting him.

Col. Mike Moody told the London news conference that Milosevic's policies in Yugoslavia had led to a situation where 50 percent of the population was now living below the poverty line.

He said inflation was 70 percent and rising, unemployment was above 50 percent and pension payments had been cut back several times.

"I watched a once-prosperous and proud Serbia descending into poverty and Third world status," said Moody, who spent several years in Serbia.

News Highlights: Gallery: The conflict in review News story archive Yugoslavia's Future: What's next for Yugoslavia Map: Who controls what The Peace Settlement: A guide to the peace plan Map: Serb troop withdrawal The Military Campaign: Strike damage assessment Atlas: NATO and the Balkans Background: Timeline: Trouble in the Balkans A who's who of key players Map: Kosovo and its neighbors A history of the KLA

Milosevic eyes Russia-Belarus union

Russian President Boris Yeltsin said Friday that Milosevic had asked to join a Slavic union that includes Russia and Belarus.

Yeltsin said Milosevic made the request during a meeting Thursday in Belgrade with Gennady Seleznyov, speaker of Russia's lower house of parliament.

Russia and neighboring Belarus have created the loose political union over the past three years. Yugoslavia has observer status in the union's parliamentary assembly. It shares no borders with either country.

On Friday, Yeltsin again warned NATO not to send ground troops into Yugoslavia. But he reiterated that Moscow will not be drawn into the conflict militarily.

Refugees and diplomacy

NATO officials and the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees were still struggling to keep the aid flowing for tens of thousands of ethnic Albanian refugees who fled Kosovo and are now living in NATO-run tent cities in Albania and Macedonia.

While aircraft have been flying in food and supplies to the Albanian capital, Tirana, for days, distribution has been a problem. Albania has taken in about 70 percent of the refugees.

A NATO commander told CNN that civilian aid organizations need to step up their contributions of food and medical aid.

J. Brian Atwood, administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development, said about 140,000 refugees in Albania were "in bad condition (with) respiratory diseases and diarrheal diseases."

"More importantly, they've been terribly traumatized by the brutality that they've faced. We've seen people whose families were executed (and) watched as their homes burned."

On the diplomatic front, Cypriot envoy Spyros Kyprianou was to meet Milosevic Friday to discuss the possible release of three American soldiers held captive by Serb forces.

"I expect to have very friendly and constructive negotiations," said Kyprianou, who arrived in Belgrade Thursday.

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