The United States has agreed to shelter 20,000 Kosovar refugees

April 5, 1999
Web posted at: 5:34 p.m. EST (2234 GMT)

In this story: Clinton names Atwood refugee czar Soldiers stack rations in Albania Dover base delivers the goods RELATED STORIES, SITES

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Pentagon spokesman Ken Bacon said the most likely choice to house Kosovar refugees in United States territory would be the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

But other U.S. military officials said the base will need time to prepare should it be selected. "The facilities necessary are not there now," said Lt. Jane Campbell with U.S. Southern Command based in Miami.

The United States agreed to take 20,000 refugees from Kosovo to U.S. facilities outside the territorial United States. Officials have identified as possible shelters military bases in Guam, Europe and Cuba.

The Cuba base has some supplies, but would need extra personnel and time to set up tents and bring in translators, military officials said.

In the mid-1990s, Guantanamo housed 50,000 Haitians and Cubans seeking asylum in the United States. Since then the base's staffing has dropped to a "bare-bones" level, Campbell said.

In Washington, State Department spokesman James Rubin stressed that the refugees would not stay on U.S. soil permanently.

"Let me make this clear: These are temporary arrangements," Rubin said at a press conference.

U.S. and NATO officials say they hope to keep the refugees close to Kosovo to hasten their return when fighting stops in the province.

Currently, NATO is bombing Yugoslavian targets to force the government to accept an international peacekeeping mission in Kosovo and to stop Serb forces from attacking civilians in the province.

"We're trying to galvanize European nations to take as many refugees as possible," Rubin said.

He suggested the European Union would house 100,000 refugees and other nations would take up to 100,000 more.

Clinton names Atwood refugee czar

Speaking before humanitarian relief leaders in Washington, President Bill Clinton outlined "Operation Sustained Hope," the U.S. coordinated effort to help Kosovar refugees.

"We are prepared to sustain this effort for the long haul," Clinton said. "Our plan is to persist until we prevail."

The president named Brian Atwood, the head of the U.S. Agency for International Development, to lead an interagency task force that will coordinate relief efforts, including to the refugees housed by the U.S.

While relief resources were sent to the region to sustain a half-million refugees for three months, Clinton said the pace of the crisis unfolding in Kosovo had caught NATO officials off guard.

Clinton said anyone in the U.S. who would like to donate to private relief organizations helping the refugees can call 800-USAID-RELIEF. "I know it has 11 numbers, but it works and is easier to remember," he said.

Soldiers stack rations in Albania

Italian troops stack "food gifts"

Meanwhile, humanitarian shipments from the United States arrived in Albania Monday. In the town of Kukes, at the foot of mountains capped with snow, Italian troops stacked bottled water, grain sacks and food rations, stamped "Food gift from the people of the United States of America."

Nearby, Kosovar ethnic Albanians took shelter in shantytowns composed of makeshift plastic-covered wagons attached to old tractors.

In the capital Tirana, three U.S. C-130 transport planes from Germany and another from South Carolina arrived Monday morning. They carried food rations and logistics equipment.

Dover base delivers the goods

At Dover Air Force Base in Delaware Sunday, military personnel loaded the meal packets filled with fruit bars, stew and peanut butter.

A commercial 747 left there Sunday evening, filled with packets -- some 76,000 meals in all -- for its flight to Italy.

Col. Felix Grieder, the commander of the 436th Airlift Wing at Dover, estimated Sunday that the packages leaving Dover should be in the hands of refugees in about 24 hours.

The question seems to be whether they will be enough.

With so many refugees streaming across the borders, the military has stepped up its movement of the "humanitarian daily rations" supplied by the Department of Defense to the Balkans.

A total of about 1.1 million pounds of the rations are expected to move through Dover Air Force Base.

Correspondent Christiane Amanpour and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.