NATO jets strike Yugoslav oil refineries, Serbian TV says

Serbian TV broadcast what it says is the third NATO attack on one of the country's main oil refineries
RELATED VIDEO CNN's Brent Sadler reports on events in Belgrade Windows Media 28K 80K To view the latest video streams on the strikes in Yugoslavia, use the arrow buttons below to scroll through the video gallery.        Windows Media Real        28 K 80 K IMAGE GALLERY: The Kosovo refugees Protesting the NATO strikes Devastation of the Kosovo capital The Serbs and Kosovo  ALSO Clinton says U.S. could not let history forget Kosovo Albanians Pentagon: NATO played wrong pilot tape in convoy incident KLA guerrillas appeal for arms, NATO ground troops Macedonia fears KLA recruting from refugee camps NATO strikes loosen U.S.-Russia ties  MAPS Gen. Wesley Clark describes NATO air campaign

Clinton: Milosevic is 'Europe's worst demagogue'

April 17, 1999
Web posted at: 11:20 p.m. EDT (0320 GMT)

In this story: Serbs shelling refugees in Albania, NATO says Convoy controversy continues Serb prisoner writes letter home New waves of refugees, evidence of mass graves Milosevic 'will have to go' RELATED STORIES, SITES

BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (CNN) -- NATO airstrikes pounded Yugoslavia's two oil refineries late Saturday, according to Serbian TV, as the alliance entered the 26th day of its bombing campaign against Yugoslavia.

Pictures were shown of strikes on refineries at Novi Sad and Pancevo. The two refineries had each been struck at least twice before. NATO has said that neither refinery is functioning. A petrochemical plant at Pancevo was also reported hit.

NATO has said its intention is to deny the Yugoslav Army petroleum products, but the attacks have prompted long lines at gasoline pumps. In Belgrade, CNN was allowed to photograph a string of motorists who waited for hours for the monthly allotment of 10 gallons of gasoline.

In addition, Serbian TV reported NATO strikes in other areas. At Sremska Mitrovica, Yugoslav forces said they had shot down cruise missiles.

At Batajnica, Serbian TV showed pictures what it said was residential housing hit by airstrikes on Saturday night. The broadcast indicated a number of people were wounded, including a 2-year-old girl.

Other areas sustaining hits, Serbian TV said, include Rakovica, a Belgrade suburb, Pozega, Uzice and Valjevo. There were no reports on what had been hit.

Serbs shelling refugees in Albania, NATO says

In Aviano, Italy, NATO's supreme commander Gen. Wesley Clark said Saturday that Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic had ordered the shelling of Kosovar Albanian refugees driven across the border into Albania.

"We've seen a continuing build-up of artillery in the western part of Kosovo," said Clark, citing a rocket with a range of 50 km (30 miles).

Milosevic is "firing it, lobbing it, across those mountains, indiscriminately targeting civilians in Albania," Clark said.

"These rounds are falling amongst the refugees he's just abused and thrown out of their homes. Now he shelling them with artillery when they are trying to escape from him," he said.

Clark says Milosevic ordered the shelling of ethnic Albanian refugees driven into Albania

Clark also said Yugoslav snipers were firing at Albanian Army troops along the border and "deep" reconnaissance missions by Yugoslav forces had been detected.

Convoy controversy continues

NATO admitted last week that one of its pilots "mistakenly" dropped a bomb on a civilian vehicle near Djakovica. Since then NATO has turned aside all media questions for further information, saying an investigation is continuing.

Yugoslav authorities have charged that NATO attacked a civilian convoy and killed as many as 85 ethnic Albanians.

NATO has not admitted responsibility for the deaths and destruction Western news crews were allowed to tape in the presence of Serb authorities south of Djakovica, and Clark warned the truth may never be completely clear.

"I have sifted through the continuing reports of the incident," he said Saturday. "I am astonished by the fog and there's no way without having been on the ground to really determine what happened."

Clark and the Pentagon admitted that an audio tape played for reporters was not of the pilot of the plane that dropped the bomb.

"It was a pilot flying somewhere in the area that day," Clark said.

Serb prisoner writes letter home

NATO said a Serb lieutenant captured by the Kosovo Liberation Army in Kosovo and turned over to U.S. forces would be treated under the terms of the Geneva Conventions.

"He has been examined by a doctor. He has been given shelter, food and has access to religious counseling. He has also access to the International Committee of the Red Cross and he will have all the protection and rights accorded by the third Geneva Convention," NATO spokesman Jamie Shea said.

The soldier, a lieutenant and a platoon leader, has made contact with the ICRC, said Navy Capt. Michael Doubleday at a Pentagon briefing.

The soldier was allowed to write a letter to his family which was given to the ICRC for delivery, Doubleday said.

New waves of refugees, evidence of mass graves

At the Albanian border, more than 30,000 refugees arrived between mid-Friday and mid-Saturday, relief officials told CNN. The refugees said thousands more displaced Kosovars are behind them.

The refugee flow was also reported to be heavy into Macedonia. One official from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said, "This is the beginning of the final push to completely rid Kosovo of its ethnic Albanians.

NATO said there was new evidence of mass graves holding as many as 150 people in west central Kosovo.

"In fact, some refugees have even reported that Kosovar Albanians have been forced to dig these mass graves and put the bodies in," said Shea.

NATO has engaged in a bombing campaign against Yugoslavia for its refusal to comply with an internationally brokered peace agreement. It outlines an autonomy plan for Kosovo, a province in Serbia, the predominant state in the Yugoslav federation.

Milosevic 'will have to go'

In a letter to the London Sunday Times, President Clinton calls Milosevic "Europe's worst demagogue" and suggests that he will have to go. But the president still supports an autonomous Kosovo within Yugoslavia.

"The best solution is not the endless shifting of Europe's borders along ethnic lines, but greater integration among European states that work together to make a virtue, not a blood feud, out of diversity.

"Realistically, the realization of this vision will require a democratic transition in Serbia itself, for the region cannot be secure with a belligerent tyrant in its midst."

Clinton said Milosevic can end NATO bombing campaign by agreeing to international demands including a NATO led force to implement a peace agreement in Kosovo.

• A planeload of about 100 American Albanians arrived in Tirana to join Kosovo rebels in their battle against the Serbs. Gen. Clark also traveled to the Albanian capital, where U.S. Apache helicopters could arrive as early as Sunday, sources tell CNN.

• President Clinton will ask Congress for $6 billion to pay for the expanding role of U.S. forces in the airstrikes. The funds would be in addition to the nearly $500 million the White House has requested for humanitarian efforts. The U.S. has already committed $150 million for refugee aid.

• Demonstrators across the world on Saturday protested the air attacks against Yugoslavia. Nearly 100 people gathered outside the White House carrying anti-war signs, shouting "stop the bombing now." More than 2,000 demonstrators protested in New York. A representative of the International Action Center said demonstrations took place in over 100 cities, including Los Angeles, London and Chicago and in towns in France, Italy, Germany and Greece. The IAC is a multicultural anti-war group formed during the Gulf War.

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