(22 May 1999) Natural Sound
NATO dismissed a new call by President Slobodan Milosevic to end the bombing with a series of sorties over Belgrade and other cities early Saturday, blacking out much of Serbia and drawing heavy anti-aircraft fire.
Residents reported explosions from several outlying districts of the capital, including Lipovica forest which is the suspected location of an anti-aircraft and military communications command post.
A U-N delegation touring Kosovo visited the near-deserted town of Podujevo and saw the aftermath of NATO bombing raids.
The delegation then travelled to nearby villages still populated by ethnic Albanians.
The U-N officials talked to the villagers about their treatment by Serb authorities but would not disclose details of the conversations.
U-N officials in Kosovo travelled to various small villages to inspect damage caused by NATO bombs and to talk to ethnic Albanians.
Podujevo, a small village 35 kilometres north of the capital, Pristina, lay virtually empty following NATO airstrikes.
Neighbouring villages of Sajkovac and Svetlje had also suffered damaged from bombs but were still populated by ethnic Albanians.
U-N officials spoke to the residents of these villages about their treatment by Serb forces but the U-N would not reveal details of the conversation.
NATO bombing continued in the region on Saturday.
Yugoslav media reported that NATO jets dropped special cluster bombs with carbon filaments on Saturday - short circuiting electricity supplies.
Widespread power cuts blacked out parts of Belgrade and at least 15 other cities and towns.
Repair teams restored power to Belgrade early Saturday, but the grid went down again a few hours later.
A statement from Serbia's power company accused NATO of seeking to cause an humanitarian catastrophe of major proportions.
NATO said Saturday that it attacked power installations, ammunition dumps, highway bridges, and army barracks during its most intensive night of sorties yet.
It also took advantage of good weather to strike a dozen tanks, 18 military vehicles, and nine artillery positions.
In all, 684 sorties were flown.
In New York, Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, Sergey Lavrov, warned that the NATO alliance's intensified bombing campaign and civilian casualties were making peace negotiations more difficult.
But British Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook, said Russia, which opposes the eight-week NATO air bombardment, realises that a peace agreement means getting Milosevic to accept an international peacekeeping force in Kosovo with a strong NATO role.
The air bombardment is aimed at forcing Milosevic to withdraw his 40-thousand Serb troops and special police from the Serbian province of Kosovo, permit the return of nearly 800-thousand ethnic Albanian refugees who have fled or been expelled, and allow NATO peacekeepers into the Province to enforce the peace.
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