(23 Apr 1999) English/Nat

NATO leaders meeting in Washington D.C. to debate the Kosovo crisis, have rejected a diplomatic overture from Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to end the bombing.

The overture did not meet a key demand - removal of Milosevic's forces from the Serbian province and an armed international peacekeeping force.

And, at the Pentagon on Friday, the Clinton administration defended NATO's bombing of the Serbian television station saying it was directly tied to one of the command and control centres of the military.

The Clinton administration is discounting a Russian proposal that President Milosevic might agree to a peacekeeping force in Kosovo.

Ken Bacon, the spokesman for the U-S Defence Department insisted that any force must be under NATO command and armed and that so far Milosevic has remained inflexible on removing his troops from the Serbian province.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"We've seen very little Serb movement to our terms, the fact that he is prepared to allow foreign troops in does not say nearly enough. He has to be prepared to take his troops out he has to stop the killing and he has to allow - we have always said and NATO international led force in. I don't think that anybody should be belive that an unarmed force of observers or a force that isn't well trained, a solid combat force can go in and force a peace in Kosovo after all the killing that's gone on there."
SUPER CAPTION: Ken Bacon, Pentagon Spokesman

Although bad weather is hampering Operation Allied Force, NATO was still able to attack a number of what Bacon calls "significant" and "dual use" targets Thursday night.

These included Serbian state television facilities, power transformers in the Belgrade area and artillery pieces near the Albanian border.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"We believe that these particular facilities are tied to commander controlled installations in the Belgrade area and it is clear that all - almost all electrical power facilities will have some dual use to them I don't think there's anyway to avoid that."
SUPER CAPTION:Ken Bacon, Pentagon Spokesman

Bacon says the attacks are a sign the air campaign is intensifying.

And, while NATO leaders are meeting in Washington, he says the talks should deliver a message of allied resolve to Belgrade.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"The lesson of last night's strikes is very clear and it contains two messages for Milosevic. The first is that the air campaign is intensifying hitting a broader range of targets throughout the country and also hitting targets on the ground in Kosovo. The fact that this is happening during the NATO summit shows that NATO remains highly committed to intensifying this campaign and in fact to making it clear that there is no sanctuary for murderers."
SUPERCAPTION: Ken Bacon, Pentagon Spokesman

When asked whether NATO will bomb any more television facilities, Bacon's simple answer was "stay tuned", a clear sign that one of Milosevic's main propaganda tools may be facing a limited shelf-life.

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