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Los Angeles police presented Ramirez' brother, Steven, and mother, Vivian (top), with placards bearing Ramirez' photograph and the signatures of hundreds of police officers
ALSO NATO: Yugoslav army now on defensive in Kosovo Yeltsin warns of possible world war over Kosovo Cypriot envoy faces political backlash over failed mission Rugova says he was coerced into Belgrade talks Army urges Orthodox church to defend Yugoslavia

April 10, 1999
Web posted at: 10:54 a.m. EDT (1054 GMT)

LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- A day after efforts by a Cypriot envoy failed to free three captured U.S. servicemen in Yugoslavia, veterans and community leaders were expected to gather Saturday in Montebello, California, in a rally for the men.

On Friday, hundreds of Los Angeles police officers signed poster-sized placards bearing the photograph of Army Staff Sgt. Andrew Ramirez, to be presented to the family of the captive soldier.

Chief Bernard Parks said the cards were passed around the department's 18 divisions to show the family "what the LAPD family is all about."

Ramirez' brother, Steven, is a detective on the force.

"I'd just like to thank everybody and ... hopefully we'll get my brother home soon so that this whole ordeal can go away," Steven Ramirez said.

Meanwhile, U.S. Army Spc. Steven M. Gonzales turned 22 Saturday, a little more than a week after he, Ramirez and Staff Sgt. Christopher J. Stone were captured by Serb forces near the Macedonian border with Yugoslavia.

The House Republican Conference set up a Web site for sending birthday greetings to Gonzales.

Diplomacy fails to win release

The White House was disappointed but not surprised after Spyros Kyprianou, a lawmaker from Cyprus, failed to obtain the release of the three servicemen.

Kyprianou met with Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic in Belgrade on Friday. He was to return home Saturday.

White House deputy press secretary Barry Toiv, traveling with President Bill Clinton in Philadelphia, said the administration "did not have great expectations" for Kyprianou's mission.

"As we have said all along, there was no basis for taking them, there is no basis for holding them, and we will hold President Milosevic personally responsible for their care," White House press secretary Joe Lockhart said.

Kyprianou blamed continued NATO airstrikes for his failed attempt to win the soldiers' release.

"Under the circumstances ... and the fact that the message received by the Yugoslav leadership and people is that the relentless bombardments will continue, (they) can't proceed with a new peace gesture," he said.

Kyprianou said he would cease his efforts to free the captive soldiers "for the time being."

He added that he would not "exclude anything in the future, depending on developments."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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