5th day of NATO strikes begins; ethnic Albanians flee Kosovo
BRUSSELS, Belgium (CNN) -- NATO began its fifth day of airstrikes on Yugoslavia on Sunday, as thousands of ethnic Albanian refugees poured out of Kosovo with harrowing stories of systematic ethnic cleansing at the hands of Serb police and paramilitaries, according to NATO officials.
But after meeting with Yugoslav government and army leaders Sunday, President Slobodan Milosevic said his country would continue its resistance. In a show of Serb unity, thousands of people attended an anti-NATO concert in the center of Belgrade.
The official Tanjug news agency said the people and armed forces were linked by "strong unity, a high patriotic conscience and determination to endure in the just struggle against the criminal aggressors."
NATO says quarter of Kosovars displaced
At NATO headquarters in Brussels, spokesman Jamie Shea said the strike campaign is now aimed at heading off what he termed "a major humanitarian disaster" in Kosovo. He said more than 500,000 people -- about a quarter of the province's population -- have been displaced.
Tens of thousands of refugees have headed into neighboring Albania and Macedonia and into the Yugoslav republic of Montenegro, Shea said. Many gave eyewitness accounts of forced expulsions of ethnic Albanians from their homes, summary executions and men being detained and carted away in trucks.
"Whether we like it or not, we have to recognize we are on the brink of a major humanitarian disaster in Kosovo, the likes of which have not been seen in Europe since the closing days of World War II," Shea said. "We are acting in a just cause. We are convinced of that."
Shea bristled at suggestions that NATO military action may have made the situation worse, noting that Serb actions against ethnic Albanians predated the beginning of the air campaign.
"What is going on in Kosovo is not an improvised affair," he said.
U.S., Britain beef up air power
NATO officials announced Saturday that the air campaign will move into a new phase in which the emphasis will be tanks, troop columns and military hardware on the ground in Kosovo.
"Now what we want to do is be able to attack, from the airplanes, their headquarters, their commanders which are underground so that we can stop the tremendous ethnic cleansing which is now taking place on the ground," said NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana on ABC's "This Week" program.
Shea said the attacks will be carried out primarily in Kosovo and areas just to the north of the province, though attacks on air defenses and other military facilities will continue in other parts of Yugoslavia.
Key NATO members Britain and the United States are making more aircraft available for the Yugoslav operation.
The Royal Air Force will commit another 12 combat planes and a tanker to the allied action in the Balkans, and the U.S. Air Force has been given permission to fly more B-52 heavy bombers out of British air bases, British Defense Secretary George Robertson said.
Those planes will be part of NATO's attempt to stop attacks on ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, he said.
The British commitment includes eight Tornado fighter- bombers, four additional Harrier ground attack planes and a tanker, Robertson said. The combat planes will be ready to participate in NATO attacks by Monday.
U.S. officials brace for 'catastrophe'
In Washington, senior U.S. administration officials tell CNN that attacks on ethnic Albanians have intensified since the NATO airstrikes began.
"This is not just one unit out of control," said one official. "This is an calculated campaign by the (Yugoslav) government to reduce or eliminate the Albanian population of Kosovo."
"Clearly, a catastrophe is unfolding," he said.
U.S. officials said they believe much of the Kosovar Albanian political leadership, including Ibrahim Rugova, has gone into hiding.
But in an interview on CNN's "Late Edition," Vuk Draskovic, Yugoslavia's deputy prime minister, denied that there was any orchestrated campaign under way to kill ethnic Albanians or force them out of the country.
"We need Albanians in our state. No one has that genocide strategy. Albanian (terrorists) are doing that crime," he said.
NATO: Saturday's strikes hit 17 major targets
In a press briefing on Saturday's NATO attacks, Air Commodore David Wilby, a British member of NATO's staff, said the strikes were concentrated near Belgrade, with other strikes running south in a line through Pristina to the Macedonian border.
The attacks were carried out "without significant collateral damage to civilian life or infrastructure," Wilby said. Sixty-six NATO aircraft attacked in two waves, striking 17 major targets.
Allied forces flew a total of 253 sorties, hitting 11 targets in the region of Belgrade and six others scattered across the country, he said.
For the most part, those targets were parts of Yugoslavia's integrated air defense system and command-and-control headquarters, and the headquarters of Serbia special police units, who are believed responsible for much of the violence reportedly taking place in Kosovo, he said.
During Saturday's operations, one U.S. F-117A stealth fighter crashed about 40 kilometers (25 miles) west of Belgrade. An American search-and-rescue team found the pilot, who was reported in good condition Sunday at a NATO base. Pentagon officials say they have not determined why the plane went down.
Meanwhile, Reuters quoted a senior government official in Macedonia as saying that country was expected to ask NATO to admit it urgently as a member because of security concerns over the crisis in Kosovo on its northern border.
NATO began the airstrikes Wednesday after the Milosevic government refused to sign a pact ending a year of ethnic strife in Kosovo. Representatives of the province's ethnic Albanian population already have signed the agreement.
On the third consecutive night of action, Nato's bombing campaign against Yugoslavia moved to the centre of the capital, Belgrade, with a series of powerful explosions reported in the city.
The assault on the capital came as Nato reported that it had shot down two Yugoslav fighter planes over Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Bosnian Serbs reported that two Nato planes had been shot down but Nato say there have been no losses so far.
In Kosovo, there are reports of atrocities by the Serb forces with residents and aid workers speaking of people being rounded up and shot, and of widespread looting and burning of buildings.
The explosions in Belgrade mark the first attacks on the centre of the city. One of the explosions occured in Kosutnjak, in the south-west of the city centre, where a military barracks is located.
Several of the capital's suburbs were also reported to have been hit. Belgrade authorities say military targets were hit but also said a pharmaceutical plant was damaged, releasing poisonous fumes.
Friday also saw the first daylight bombing raids and missile attacks on Yugoslavia, with the outskirts of Belgrade being hit during the day.
Yugoslav planes downed
Nato says its forces have shot down two Yugoslav MiG-29 fighters which had intruded about 8km (5 miles) into Bosnian air space.
Nato says the pilots ejected and their whereabouts are unknown.
The BBC Defence Correspondent says the Yugoslav planes appear to have been trying to attack the Nato-led peacekeeping force in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Bosnia-Herzegovina's ambassador at the United Nations requested an emergency meeting of the Security Council, saying that the Yugoslavia warplanes had crossed into his country "with the intention of committing military strikes against our country."
TheYugoslav foreign minister, Zivadin Jovanovic, denied that the fighters were shot down.
He also accused Nato of killing dozens of civilians.
The Yugoslavs in turn say they shot down at least two Nato aircraft, but this has not been confirmed.
More attacks on Kosovars
Nato Supreme Commander General Wesley Clark said the air campaign would now quickly shift to attacking formations in the field.
So far, Nato's military action shows no signs of halting attacks by Serbian forces in Kosovo. The UN refugee agency has expressed grave concern at reports of massacres of Kosovo Albanian civilians.
A prominent Kosovo Albanian human rights lawyer, Bajram Kelmendi, and his two sons were found shot dead at a roadside in Pristina, a day after they were reported kidnapped.
Nato said there was every sign that Yugoslav army and police operations in Kosovo were intensifying and increasing in brutality.
But Serbian reports maintained that the separatist Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) has been using the cover of Nato strikes to launch attacks on Serbian positions.
Nato divisions
As the strikes continued, signs of a possible rift in the Nato alliance have been emerging.
Nato member Greece called for an end to the bombing, as protesters demonstrating against the strikes clashed with riot police in the capital, Athens.
Italy called for military action to be brief, and urged further efforts to find a political solution for Kosovo.
Russia has ordered Nato's two top representatives in Moscow to leave the country, as part of a freeze on all contacts with the alliance because of the air raids.
However Russia has failed to muster enough support to pass a resolution in the UN Security Council demanding an end to the bombing.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. President Bill Clinton made an impassioned, televised appeal to the people of Serbia Friday calling on them to avoid further attacks by signing the Kosovo peace deal.
Clinton stressed that he believed all options had been exhausted and that only the "swift action" of U.S. and NATO forces could save the chance for peace in the Balkans.
"I cannot emphasize too strongly that the U.S. and our European allies have no quarrel with the Serbian people," Clinton said in his seven-minute address.
He said Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic had diminished Serbia's standing in the international community.
The U.S. leader went on to accuse Milosevic of jeopardizing Kosovo's future and bringing more war to the troubled region. He said Milosevic had repeatedly used history as justification for his actions but instead had "imperiled the future."
He called for Serbs to work with the U.S. and NATO to restore Serbia as a "great nation of Europe."
Clinton's taped speech was posted on the government-funded WORLDNET Internet site, the U.S. Information Agency global information network, and was scheduled to be beamed out by the U.S. Information Agency via satellite at 2:30 a.m. EST (0730 GMT). However, it is unlikely to be broadcast by Yugoslav TV.
His comments came after two days of U.S. and NATO strikes against Serbian military positions.
The Serb-led Yugoslav government has refused NATO-brokered efforts at a peace deal for Kosovo -- a province of Serbia dominated by ethnic Albanians seeking greater autonomy.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- NATO geared up for a third day of strikes against Yugoslavia after warplanes pounded the Balkan country with bombs and missiles for the second day in a row, CNN learned late Thursday.
Pentagon officials said that, contrary to some news reports, "all NATO planes are accounted for" and none was downed by Yugoslavian forces.
The official Yugoslav news agency Tanjug had reported three NATO warplanes were shot down Thursday by Serb forces.
Those reports said that two planes were shot down north of the capital city of Belgrade and a third over Kosovo.
NATO warplanes took to the air for the second straight day Thursday to deliver a punishing message to Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic that he must end his repression of Kosovo, Pentagon officials said.
The NATO supreme allied commander was even more direct about the objectives of Operation Allied Force.
"We are going to systematically and progressively attack, disrupt, degrade, devastate and ultimately -- unless President Milosevic complies with the international community -- we are going to destroy those forces and their facilities and support," Gen. Wesley Clark said.
Second mission for B-2 stealth bombers
Thursday's attacks were primarily carried out by aircraft, including U.S. F-117A stealth fighters and B-2 bombers, according to an unidentified Pentagon source.
In the Adriatic Sea, at least 20 Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired from the USS Gonzalez and three from the USS Philippine Sea, CNN Correspondent Martin Savidge said from aboard the Philippine Sea.
The cruise missiles were sent in ahead of land-based attack aircraft. About 60 jets left from Aviano Air Base in Italy and many began returning about four hours after their launch.
"What's coming next will be more of the same," promised U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen.
"It will be another substantive strike. It will be severe," Pentagon spokesman Ken Bacon said.
Weather was not a terribly significant factor in the military operation, Bacon said, but the weather looked "pretty good tonight."
Finding and hitting the targets
"We will continue to focus on a variety of targets, but principally on air defense targets and also on military targets in and around Kosovo, the types of assets that the Yugoslavs are using against the Kosovar Albanian people," Bacon said.
High on the list of initial targets are the Serbs' estimated 60 batteries of highly mobile SAM-6 surface-to-air missiles.
Bacon was asked whether the Serbs were taking steps to protect those and whether that made it difficult for NATO to locate targets.
"I think it is fair to say that things were in their expected position -- which was moved," Bacon said. "They have been moving their military assets, including tanks and artillery -- and other things. Dispersion is a standard defensive tactic, and the Serbs are very good at dispersion."
He said that is why it will not be easy for NATO to suppress the Serb air defense system.
"Sophisticated systems such as the SAM-6 missile can be moved very easily. The Iraqis do that, and the Serbs do it as well," Bacon said.
However, Bacon said, the Serbs are using another Iraqi military strategy, but not to a "huge extent" -- that of moving endangered weapons into urban areas that NATO might hesitate to hit.
More than 230 combat-ready Serb air force planes, including about 75 Russian-built MiG jet fighters, are also targets for NATO planes.
NATO warplanes shot down three MiGs Wednesday, Clark said, Pentagon sources said NATO forces faced no challenges from Yugoslav military aircraft Thursday.
Reaching the 'tank-busting phase'
Bacon said 20 percent of the allied targets were VJ -- Yugoslav army targets -- or MUP -- ministerial special police targets.
"These are the forces that are being used to attack the Kosovar Albanians in Kosovo, and we will continue to focus on those targets," Bacon said.
"They have fewer assets today than they had yesterday, yes. But I would be misleading you if I told you that they are not yet, that they are at a point where they can't continue their aggression or repression of the Kosovar Albanians," said Bacon.
"We have not degraded it to that point. But we're only in the second day," Bacon added.
Other sources within the Pentagon concede the NATO strikes have not sufficiently softened the Serbian air defense systems in order for NATO forces to begin what one official called the "tank-busting" phase.
But other military analysts said it will probably require NATO ground troops to get the job done.
"I don't believe you can destroy the Yugoslav army -- and by that word I suppose we're talking about fully half of it and its equipment being incapacitated -- without ground forces," said Michael O'Hanlan of the Brookings Institute.
Bacon repeatedly said he could not be more specific about targets in an ongoing strike. And he said the scorecard on the first day of the military operation would take some time.
Battle damage assessment is a very complex process and "involves more than just looking at pictures on CNN," Bacon said at the afternoon briefing.
Search teams at the ready
Clark's announcement that three Yugoslav fighter jets had been shot down during the first day of Operation Allied Force drew questions from reporters Thursday about what would happen to U.S. pilots if they were shot down and fell into Serb hands.
"Any NATO personnel that were shot down and captured by Yugoslav forces would be entitled to all the protections offered by the Geneva Convention," Bacon said. "And they would be covered by the provisions that apply to prisoners of war, that govern the treatment of prisoners of war."
But he said the Pentagon would try to prevent any pilot from being captured.
"We have very robust, well-trained combat search and rescue teams available to search for them," Bacon said.
Defense Secretary Cohen said the risk of U.S. fatalities was weighed against national interest in the stability of Europe.
"Anytime we have to send our men and women into battle and put them in harm's way, it's always a difficult decision," Cohen said on CNN's "Larry King Live."
In the wake of the NATO strikes, steps have also been taken to ensure the safety of U.S. personnel serving in the peacekeeping force in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bacon said during Thursday's Pentagon briefing.
"Force protection is the job of unit commanders in Bosnia and elsewhere, and they have the authority to take steps that they think are appropriate to match the threat they face," Bacon said.
He also said every soldier undergoes force protection training before being deployed to Bosnia.
"It's something that's on their mind every minute of the day when they're on duty and frequently when they're off duty as well," Bacon said.
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NATO ATTACKS TARGETS IN FRY, FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PROCLAIMS STATE OF WAR. At 8:00 p.m. on March 24, NATO air forces launched the first wave of air raids on targets in Yugoslavia. At midnight, Yugoslav Prime Minister Momir Bulatovic said the Yugoslav government had proclaimed a state of war, following a NATO attack on Yugoslavia.
According to reports from the field, targets in the region of several towns throughout the country were attacked. First explosions were heard south from Pristina, in the vicinity of Slatina airport, at 7:45 p.m. After these explosions, which were heard in a half minute interval, Pristina ran out of electricity. Attacks on Slatina airport were repeated later, a little after 9:00 p.m., then around 11:20 p.m., and ten minutes after midnight.
A series of attacks was launched in the region of Belgrade. North-west from Belgrade, in the region of Batajnica, where the military airport is situated, 11 detonations were registered by 11:00 p.m. Three attacks were launched on the region. From the region of Batajnica, explosions were heard, and, according to witnesses, there are flames. Explosions were also heard in several places south of Belgrade. One of them was registered in the region of Ralja, 30 kilometers south of Belgrade.
Three strong detonations were heard around Mount Avala, south of Belgrade, while the radar station in Rakovica was hit. In Mladenovac, 60 kilometers south of Belgrade, an explosion was heard and flames was seen coming from a barracks in that town. Three explosions were heard in Pancevo, where, according to a local radio station, the aircraft factory was hit.
Three explosions were heard in the region of Novi Sad. Powerful explosions were heard north-west of Kraljevo, from the Ladjevci airport direction. The local TV reported that the airport was targeted, adding that a missile missed it. Sirens sounded in Kragujevac at 8:20 p.m.
NATO attacked military targets in Montenegro - the Golubovci airport, near Podgorica, and the military base in Danilovgrad. The civilian airport Golubovci, near Podgorica, was closed, it was confirmed to BETA in Podgorica.
The Serbian state-run TV reported that four people were injured in Vojvodina. BETA has learned in Podgorica that three soldiers were wounded and hospitalized.
Around midnight, the Yugoslav Army Headquarters reported that during a three-hour attack on Yugoslavia, NATO forces targeted 40 facilities.
The military authorities' report said that NATO attacked five airports, five barracks, several communication centers, several command offices, warehouses, units in positions, and two military production plants.
According to the army headquarters information, two NATO aircraft and several missiles were downed, the statement said. It added that the attacks had caused minimal damage to targeted facilities and personnel.
Commander of the Yugoslav Third Army, Gen. Nebojsa Pavkovic, said that "during the NATO attack, the Yugoslav Army air defense systems shot down six cruise missiles and two aircraft."
Pavkovic added that the NATO attack claimed civilian casualties, among them refugees in Prokuplje, the Serbian state-run TV reported.
The German Defense Ministry confirmed that during the NATO air strikes against Yugoslavia, one German 'Tornado' fighter was shot down, the German ARD TV reported.
Lawmakers show support for troops
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Clinton took his case for U.S.-led NATO airstrikes in Yugoslavia to the American public Wednesday night, saying the strikes were necessary to "defuse a powder keg" that has engulfed Europe in war before.
"We act to protect thousands of innocent people in Kosovo from a mounting military offensive," said Clinton.
The president detailed how the Kosovars have suffered at the hands of Yugoslav forces.
"We've seen innocent people taken from their homes, forced to kneel in the dirt and sprayed by bullets," Clinton said. "Ending this tragedy is a moral imperative."
The president also outlined why sending U.S. forces to lead the NATO raids was in the best interest of the United States.
"We act to prevent a wider war, to defuse a powder keg at the heart of Europe that has exploded twice before with catastrophic results. We act to stand united with our allies for peace," he said.
However, Clinton specifically ruled out the introduction of U.S. ground forces in a combat capacity. "I don't intend to put our troops in Kosovo to fight a war," he said.
Kosovo's location, near to many allied countries such as Italy and Greece, is on a "fault line" of Europe, Asia and the Middle East, Clinton said.
It is there, he said, where major religions meet -- Islam and both Western and Orthodox Christianity.
In addition, the small countries that surround Kosovo could be destabilized by refugees trying to escape a brutal Serbian campaign of repression, he said.
That situation creates "all the ingredients for a major war," similar to that which existed before World War I and II, he said.
"Ancient grievances, struggling democracies -- and in the center of it all -- a dictator in Serbia who has done nothing since the Cold War ended but start new wars and pour gasoline on the flames of ethnic and religious division," said Clinton.
From the Oval Office, Clinton said that if Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic won't make peace, NATO "will limit his ability to make war."
Pentagon: Milosevic can end strikes anytime
U.S. officials sought Wednesday to pin the blame for the military action on Milosevic.
Clinton said the Yugoslav leader violated commitments he made last fall to "stop the brutal repression in Kosovo," where ethnic Albanians are fighting for independence, and continued to send military units into the southern province.
"His forces have intensified their attacks, burning down Kosovo Albanian villages and murdering civilians," Clinton said. "As I speak, more Serb forces are moving into Kosovo and more people are fleeing their homes -- 60,000 in just the last five weeks, a quarter of a million altogether."
Defense Secretary William Cohen also said Wednesday that Milosevic could end the NATO military operation at any time by choosing the course of peace.
"In the event that he fails to exercise that option, then we would continue in our effort to deter him from aggressively attacking the Kosovar people," said Cohen. "And if that deterrence is not successful, then we will continue to damage his capability of waging that in the future."
A few hours after the NATO operation was under way Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives easily passed a resolution stating its support for the members of the armed forces who are engaged in the operation.
Rep. Barbara Lee (D-California) was the lone member to vote against the measure.
The hastily drawn-up resolution states the House's "pride in members of the Armed Forces" and "recognizes their professionalism, dedication, patriotism, and courage."
During floor debate on the resolution, many members expressed reservations about U.S. commitment to the NATO operation, but all members agreed that praise and support for troops was unconditional.
Rep. Sam Gejdenson (D-Connecticut) said "it would be unthinking not to have reservations about a policy that uses force and puts our people in harm's way."
Other members pointed out the historical significance that the Balkan region has played in history. Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Missouri) asserted that "the Balkans are a tinder box ... World War I started there. There's a great deal at stake: the stability of Europe."
Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Illinois) said: "We want to tell our fighting forces in Kosovo and in Yugoslavia that we are there," while pointing out that "diplomats are fine, lawyers are great, but in the end it's the soldiers who pay."
Helms calls for Milosevic's overthrow
Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Jesse Helms (R-North Carolina) is set to introduce a bill Thursday that would call for the removal of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, according to sources.
Helms, who voted against authorizing airstrikes, will call for a change in U.S. policy, making Milosevic's removal the official goal of U.S. action in the Balkans.
The Helms bill, called the Serbian Democratization Act, would also authorize $100 million in U.S. funds to support Democratic movements inside Yugoslavia.
Co-sponsoring the bill are Sens. Joseph Lieberman (D-Connecticut), Frank Lautenberg (D-New Jersey) and Richard Lugar (R-Indiana).
Protesters square off in New York
Also Wednesday, across from New York's Grand Central Station, a group of ethnic Serbs and anti-war protesters chanting "Stop the bombing, stop the war" squared off with a group of ethnic Albanian demonstrators shouting "U.S.A., U.S.A."
The two sides were separated by police officers and barricades, as well as 42nd Street. The protest, which involved about 180 people, was orderly, although at times the atmosphere between them was heated.
President Clinton addresses the United States on Wednesday evening
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The Pentagon also confirmed that two B-2 bombers took part in the attack, marking the first time the stealth bomber has been used in combat. The Air Force says the $2.2 billion dollar batwing bombers are nearly invisible to radar and are each capable of dropping satellite-guided 2,000-pound bombs on 16 targets.
Nato bombs Serbia
Nato planes are returning to base after the first wave of air strikes against Serbia amid confusion over the fate of one alliance aircraft.
A Nato spokesman at the plane's Italian base said that an aircraft was shot down over the Cicavica Mountains, northwest of the Kosovo capital Pristina.
But Pentagon officials in Washington say all the planes appear to have returned safely.
The first wave of attacks came as Nato fulfilled weeks of warnings from western governments of military action over the Kosovo crisis.
US defence officials said the attacks, the first against a sovereign country in Nato's 50-year history, began with air and sea-launched cruise missiles.
Attacks were also carried out by batwing B2 stealth bombers, the first time the aircraft have been used in combat.
The many threats against President Milosevic were finally acted on with explosions first heard at about 1900 GMT.
Russia's President Boris Yeltsin, opposed to the action, has recalled the country's representative at Nato's Brussels headquarters and ordered a halt to all co-operation with the alliance.
The UN's Security Council is due to meet at Russia's request at midnight GMT Wednesday.
BBC Correspondents and news agencies have reported explosions in Serbia and Montenegro including:
Correspondents in the Kosovo capital Pristina report:
In its first reports, the Yugoslav news agency Tanjug say that some family members of government forces have been killed.
The agency also reported that seven Serbian towns had been hit in the first wave of Nato attacks.
The missile strikes are expected to pave the way for huge bombing raids on Serb forces by up to 400 Nato warplanes on standby in the region.
Nato Secretary-General Javier Solana announced the beginning of the operation after waves of Nato planes took off from the an airbase at Aviano in northeastern Italy at nightfall.
Hours earlier, eight American B-52 bombers, armed with cruise missiles, left from an airbase in England.
Speaking shortly after the announcement of the attacks, President Bill Clinton said the aim of the action was threefold: to demonstrate Nato's opposition to agression, to deter President Slobodan Milosevic from further attacks and to diminish the Serbs' military capability.
''Kosovo's crisis is now full blown,'' he said. ''If we don't act clearly it will get even worse.
"Only firmness now can prevent greater catastrophe later.''
Military observers predicted that the warplanes would meet a stiffer challenge than air missions over Iraq.
Yugoslavia was placed on high alert after the government declared a state of emergency.
Military preparations included setting up air-raid shelters and bunkers for civilians.
Thousands of Kosovo Albanians have been fleeing the latest Serb-led offensive, heading south into the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia.
Defiant Serbs
On Wednesday afternoon, Serb leader Slobodan Milosevic called on his people to be prepared to defend their country "by all means".
In a nationally televised address he warned them that "at stake is the freedom of the entire country".
"We shall defend the country if it is attacked," he said.
But blaming Yugoslav Government "intransigence", the Nato secretary-general has said Nato's quarrel was not with the Yugoslav people and that the attacks would be aimed at weakening the Yugoslav army and paramilitary police forces.
'New Vietnam warning'
President Boris Yeltsin appealed to world leaders in a national television address on Wednesday to keep Bill Clinton from making what he described as a "terrifying and tragic" mistake of launching air strikes against Serbia.
Its Prime Minister, Yevgeny Primakov has warned that Russia's relations with Washington will be damaged and European stability harmed.
The Russian Defence Minister, Igor Sergeyev, has warned that Nato strikes could produce "a new Vietnam inside Europe".
(CNN) -- NATO air attacks against Serbian military targets began Wednesday evening. Here are the latest developments:
U.S. military sources say the opening salvo of the NATO airstrikes consisted of satellite-guided cruise missiles launched from American and British ships, supplemented by air-launched cruise missiles deployed by U.S. B-52 bombers flying out of bases in Britain.
CNN Correspondent Brent Sadler reported at least three heavy explosions in Pristina, the capital of the Serbian province of Kosovo, just before 8 p.m. (2 p.m. EST). He could not tell where exactly the blasts took place or whether any damage was caused. He also reported hearing repeated sporadic small arms fire and what appeared to be anti-aircraft fire. Pristina was steeped in "pitch black darkness," he said.
CNN Correspondent Christiane Amanpour in Belgrade reported seeing two flashes in the night skies on the distant horizon, apparently outside the capital of Yugoslavia.
CNN Correspondent Martin Savidge, aboard the USS Philippine Sea in the Adriatic Sea, reported that the ship launched nine Tomahawk cruise missiles, which lit up the night sky.
CNN Correspondent Jim Bitterman at NATO's Aviano Air Base in Italy said military aircraft began taking off about 6 p.m. (noon EST). Overall, about 70 of the base's 130 planes had been deployed. None has returned as of yet.
U.S. President Bill Clinton said Wednesday afternoon the NATO mission has three goals: to show NATO's serious commitment to peace in Kosovo, to deter further attacks by Yugoslav government troops, and, if necessary, to degrade the capacity of Yugoslav armed forces.
NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana said after the launch of the air attacks that "our (NATO) actions are directed against the repressive policy of Yugoslav leadership." He said NATO was not at war with the Yugoslav people.
In protest of the attacks, Russia has recalled its ambassador to NATO and closed its offices at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.
BELGRADE (CNN) -- Serbian television officials banned CNN and two other networks from transmitting television pictures from the Yugoslav capital Wednesday following the start of NATO air strikes.
In addition to CNN, the American Broadcasting Company and a German television network were also banned from using state-owned facilities to transmit their reports.
Earlier in the day Yugoslav officials went to a hotel where the international media had set up a satellite transmission site and took away equipment essential to transmitting video.
Correspondents were told they would have to go through state-controlled television facilities in order to transmit pictures out of Belgrade.
CNN protested the ban and said it would seek other means to get its pictures out of Yugoslavia.
The pro-Western government of the Yugoslav republic of Montenegro says it does not accept the state of emergency declared by the federal authorities in Belgrade.
But the prime minister, Filip Vujanovic, told Reuters news agency that Montenegro would maintain what he called correct relations with the Yugoslav army and would not blockade military barracks.
In response to a question about the consequences of NATO military action, a White House spokesman James Rubin said that Washington was extremely concerned at the possibility of civil strife in Montenegro should Belgrade attempt a takeover in the republic. He appealed to the people of the Montenegro to remain calm.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The United States told Belgrade Wednesday to keep its hands off Montenegro, junior partner in the Yugoslav federation, even when NATO attacks targets there because of the dispute over neighboring Kosovo.
Less than two hours later, witnesses heard explosions close to Montenegro's main airport, apparently the result of NATO strikes at Yugoslav military targets.
U.S. State Department spokesman James Rubin said he could not rule out NATO attacks in Montenegro but the alliance had no quarrel with the Montenegrin people or government.
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright wrote to Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic on Tuesday on the subject, he added.
Montenegro remains part of Yugoslavia despite disagreements with the Serbs who dominate the federation. The United States is sympathetic toward Djukanovic, who took office last year against the wishes of Belgrade after democratic elections.
Rubin said the United States was worried about the possibility of civil strife in Montenegro and he brought up the prospect of Belgrade trying to take control.
"World attention on Kosovo does not mean that Yugoslavia has a free hand to cause problems in other parts of the country or the region," the spokesman added.
"Our message to the leadership is clear: Any attempt to overthrow the democratically elected Montenegro government would only fuel wider regional instability, lead to deeper isolation for Yugoslavia and escalate the conflict with NATO."
Rubin described the Montenegrin government as a "beacon of hope" in the region, leading the way for democratization and reform in Yugoslavia.
"We have staunchly supported President Djukanovic and other democratic elements in the FRY (Yugoslavia) because of their stances on political and economic reform," he said.
"A Belgrade takeover in Montenegro would destroy the most credible and potential democratic force in the region and have negative implications throughout the region," he added.
The spokesman implied that the Belgrade authorities might try to provoke civil unrest in Montenegro as an excuse to intervene to restore order.
"We urge the republic to remain calm and avoid confrontation with public security forces," he said.
Albright has spoken to or will soon speak to the leaders of other countries around Kosovo as part of a campaign to confine the imminent conflict to Yugoslavia.
The leaders include Macedonian President Kiro Gligorov and Albanian Prime Minister Pandeli Majko.
"Let me simply say with respect to neighboring countries, (Yugoslav President Slobodan) Milosevic is well aware that if attempts to broaden or escalate further the conflict, he will face extremely serious consequences," Rubin said.
In arguing the case for military action over Kosovo, the United States has repeatedly argued that the conflict between Serb forces and ethnic Albanian separatists in Kosovo could spill over into neighboring countries.
The argument runs that this could eventually exacerbate tensions between NATO members Greece and Turkey. Greece tends to favor the Serbs while Turkey favors the Kosovo Albanians, most of whom are fellow Muslims.
Yugoslavia's main independent radio station, B92, is defying the authorities by continuing to broadcast live on the internet and via satellite.
While the nation awaits the first Nato air strikes, skeleton staff at B92 are using all available technology to continue to broadcast pop music and latest news on the web's Real Audio facility and by satellite.
Officials from the telecommunications ministry, backed by five uniformed inspectors and a police patrol, marched into radio B-92's Belgrade studio at 0300 (0200 GMT) on Wednesday and ordered the radio to stop broadcasting immediately.
Station editor Veran Matic was arrested and remaining staff were handed a blunt written warning to abandon all electronic media.
"This is the third most unpleasant experience in my life," radio journalist Alexander Vasoviic told the BBC. "We were closed down before in 1991 and 1996, so this is now the third time."
Computer ban
Radio B92 was given a blunt warning to stop using the equipment immediately.
The statement said: "With the purpose of preventing further operation of the radio station, officials will carry out temporary seizure of radio equipment until the decision of the competent agency. Appeal does not suspend the enforcement of the ruling."
The authorities said the radio station had exceeded its permitted signal power, but B92 staff denied this.
"The real reason they had to shut us down is because we were informing people about what is going on," said one journalist on the station.
B92 journalists were ordered not to answer telephone calls and not to use the computers in the studio.
The station broadcast via satellite the authorities' attempt to take the station off air.
It said: "At 0250 [0150 gmt] last night, two technicians of the Yugoslav Telecommunications Ministry, accompanied by some 10 policemen, entered the premises of B92 radio and ordered an immediate suspension of broadcasts."
Wednesday's shut down of B-92 was the latest in a series of actions by Yugoslav authorities to close independent or opposition newspapers and radio stations.
B92's programming is based around music and news, and it is one of the three most popular station in Belgrade.
The station's independence has been demonstrated over the years starting with its coverage of protest actions against the manipulation of state-run media in March 1991, of the war in Bosnia-Hercegovina in 1991 and 1992, and of students protests in 1992.
The station has been a constant irritant for the authorities in Belgrade which have taken a number of actions against it over the years, ranging from jamming, technical problems or the allocation of frequencies.
The Yugoslav government on Wednesday also moved against the international media and its ability to transmit from Belgrade.
CNN reporters said plainclothes policemen came to a transmission site and told reporters to face the wall while officials removed pieces of equipment essential for transmitting television signals.
The officials issued no official warning, but simply removed the key pieces of equipment. The move also blocked television transmission by the European Broadcasting Union.
Earlier, Serb authorities closed Belgrade's independent radio station, B-92, saying it had exceeded its authorized transmitting power. The station's editor was arrested.
Current situation (9.50PM Belgrade time): Opennet.org is not working, Media Center and B92 have been removed from the Internet.
BRUSSELS, Belgium (CNN) -- NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana has ordered military strikes against Yugoslavia following the failure of a last-minute mission to persuade Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to agree to a U.S.-drafted peace plan.
"All efforts to achieve a negotiated political solution to the Kosovo crisis have failed and no alternative is open but to take military action," Solana said from NATO headquarters in Brussels on Tuesday. Solana said he had directed NATO's supreme commander, U.S. Gen. Wesley Clark, to "initiate operations" against Yugoslavia. He did not specify when military action would begin or what sites would be targeted.
In Belgrade, Yugoslavia's government declared a state of an "imminent threat of war" by NATO forces. The declaration calls for mobilization of troops and puts the army on a high state of alert.
With hundreds of NATO planes and half a dozen warships poised to launch military strikes against Yugoslavia, the United States and several European nations closed their embassies in Belgrade Tuesday.
U.S. defense officials said planned airstrikes on Serb military targets would be swift, severe and painful.
"The train has pretty much left the station" toward air and cruise missile attacks, Defense Department spokesman Ken Bacon told reporters. "We believe this will be painful for the Serbs. We hope that relatively quickly ... the Serbs will realize they have made a mistake."
After two rounds of intense meetings with Milosevic, U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke said the Yugoslav president had not given him any peace commitment for Kosovo.
The seemingly imminent use of force led Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov to break off his trip to Washington mid-flight over the Atlantic after a telephone briefing by U.S. Vice President Al Gore.
A statement from Gore, who was to have met with Primakov on Tuesday, said in part: "After discussing the worsening situation in Kosovo, Prime Minister Primakov decided to return to Russia and we agreed with would postone this week's meeting of the U.S.-Russian Joint Commission."
Holbrooke, speaking in an interview with CNN shortly before he was to leave Belgrade, said the Kosovo situation was now "the bleakest since we began this (peace effort)" almost four years ago."
He said that Milosevic rejected international demands for an immediate cease-fire in Kosovo and a NATO-led peace force.
Asked if Milosevic understands the consequences that may result from his actions, Holbrooke said, "Yes." Holbrooke said his delegation stayed over an extra day to make sure Milosevic understood what the consequences might be.
Milosevic "has chosen a path he fully understands by rejecting our reasonable, rational requests and suggestions," he said.
Earlier Tuesday, White House press secretary Joe Lockhart said there would be "swift and substantial NATO action" should the Yugoslav government continue to reject a peace proposal for Kosovo.
The United States said Holbrooke's last-ditch mission was a final attempt to make Serbia, the dominant province in Yugoslavia, halt an offensive against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo and accept the international peace plan, which would give ethnic Albanians significant local autonomy but not full independence.
Yugoslavia would win 'moral victory'
The Serbian parliament, meeting in a special session on Tuesday, solidly rejected NATO demands to put peace troops in Kosovo to help implement an accord.
The charge d'affaires of the Yugoslav Embassy in Washington, Nebojsa Vujovic, speaking in an interview with CNN, said that his country would defend itself with all means possible in the event of a NATO attack.
He admitted that Yugoslavia's armed forces were ultimately no match for NATO but said Belgrade would win a "moral victory" since a sovereign and independent nation would be bombed by outside forces.
Italy, France and Britain all reaffirmed their readiness to take part in NATO action to prevent a "humanitarian catastrophe" in Kosovo, where more than 2,000 people have been killed and hundreds of thousands made homeless in the past year.
Fighting rages in Kosovo
Despite intense international diplomacy, fighting went on in central Kosovo on Tuesday.
Serbian security forces and separatist ethnic Albanian rebels clashed for a fourth straight day while relief workers were packing up to leave, cutting aid efforts to a minimum.
The Serb Media Center said ethnic Albanians fired on a police patrol on the road from Srbica to Glogovac, in the central Drenica region, with mortars and automatic weapons.
There also was fighting taking place near Vucitrn in the north, the Albanian-run Kosovo Information Center said.
Macedonia's two border crossings with neighboring Kosovo were reportedly closed to Yugoslav citizens on Tuesday, leaving hundreds of ethnic Albanian refugees stranded and unable to enter the country.
Macedonian state radio confirmed the border had been closed to anyone holding a Yugoslav passport, including Kosovo Albanians, many of whom some said they were fleeing possible NATO bombing.
Watch Solana's statement announcing military strikes against Yugoslavia
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BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (CNN) -- Backed by an armada of NATO warships and bombers awaiting orders to launch airstrikes against Yugoslavia, senior U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke made a last-minute attempt Monday to persuade Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to accept a U.S.-drafted peace plan for Kosovo.
But after nearly four hours of talks, the Yugoslav leader refused to budge.
"I would be misleading you if I suggested that today's talks resulted in any significant or substantial change of the situation," Holbrooke said after briefing Washington on the meeting late Monday.
Holbrooke is spending the night in Belgrade and is expected to have additional discussions with Milosevic, either by telephone or in person, before leaving Yugoslavia.
"We're still extremely pessimistic," a Clinton administration official said.
Officials said Milosevic is still refusing to allow 28,000 NATO-led troops into Kosovo to enforce the peace plan, which would grant ethnic Albanians a three-year period of significant local autonomy. Kosovo Albanian leaders signed the accord at Kosovo peace talks in Paris last week.
In a statement broadcast on Serbian television, Milosevic called the talks in France a fraud because the United States and its European partners dictated the text of the agreement "before the start of the negotiations" and without consulting "the state whose interests are at stake."
The statement said Milosevic told Holbrooke he was ready for serious talks to reach "a just and tenable solution" to the Kosovo crisis.
'On the brink of military action'
NATO has threatened military strikes against Yugoslavia if Serb leaders refuse to sign the accord and continue an offensive that has displaced more than 25,000 ethnic Albanians in Kosovo since Saturday.
The North Atlantic Council, NATO's top policymaking body, authorized Secretary-General Javier Solana on Monday to order airstrikes if Holbrooke fails to sign the accord.
NATO officials declined to say what time frame Holbrooke was working under or what level of concession from Milosevic would be enough to halt airstrikes.
Before leaving for Belgrade on Monday, Holbrooke said: "Ultimately the decision as to what happens will be made by the decisions and actions of the Yugoslav leadership. They have the power to stop this tragedy. They have the power to take action to reverse it."
Otherwise, Holbrooke said, "we are on the brink of military action."
Jovanovic: Ultimatum won't work
Yugoslav Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic said earlier Monday his country would welcome a "fair, democratic" peace agreement for Kosovo but again rejected the one presented by international mediators.
In a CNN interview, Jovanovic said threatened airstrikes would destabilize the Balkans and foster "terrorism" in other countries in the region.
Jovanovic said that any ultimatum aimed at forcing Milosevic's signature was doomed to fail.
He said NATO bombings would mark an "aggression against a sovereign state" and that anyone attacking Yugoslavia "would be met with all resources we have."
Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov, due to leave Tuesday for a visit to the United States, urged Washington and its allies not to attack Yugoslavia.
"We are categorically against the use of force against Yugoslavia," Primakov told reporters. "We believe that political levers to influence the situation are far from being exhausted yet."
Reports of fierce fighting and mass killing in Kosovo
In Kosovo, fighting raged between government forces and the rebel Kosovo Liberation Army in the northern and central parts of the province.
Two people were killed and four others seriously injured late Monday when bombs exploded at two ethnic Albanian-owned cafes in the provincial capital, Pristina.
Serb police were patrolling the streets of Pristina in armored personnel carriers Monday with turret-mounted machine guns, and tensions were running high.
The ethnic Albanian-run Kosovo Information Center said at least five villages were burning Monday in the northern Drenica region and Lapastica, the rebel headquarters for northeastern Kosovo.
KLA fighters ambushed police near Srbica, triggering a gunbattle that lasted several hours, witnesses said. Serb sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said rebels attacked the police station in Malisevo with mortars and automatic weapons.
Ethnic Albanian residents in Srbica said black-masked Yugoslav soldiers shot to death at least 16 unarmed people in a weekend campaign to crush separatist resistance. Serb authorities, however, said the only Albanians killed in Srbica were seven armed KLA fighters who died in battle.
The townspeople's accounts of summary executions could not be independently confirmed.
Smoke hung thickly over parts of Srbica, where muzzle flashes from Yugoslav army tanks could be seen amid the sound of outgoing shelling.
CNN's Christiane Amanpour reports on the latest meeting between Holbrooke and Milosevic
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CNN Military Affairs Correspondent Jamie McIntyre reports on the potential high-tech air war
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