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Friday, April 23, 1999 Published at 17:00 GMT 18:00 UK


World: Europe

Nato vows to 'tighten the screw'

Nato says it will target the heart of President Milosevic's regime

Nato has broadened its air campaign against Yugoslavia saying it is ready to "tighten the screw" on President Slobodan Milosevic by degrading the "central nervous system" of his regime.

Kosovo: Special Report
A draft joint statement released on Friday said Nato members would not allow the Yugoslav leader's "campaign of terror" to succeed.

The announcement comes as alliance officials sought to defend the bombing of Serbia's state television station on Thursday night, describing it as a legitimate target and a key part of the Mr Milosevic's military machine.


The BBC's Tom Carver: "The marching bands have been replaced with more security"
"There will be no sanctuary for those aspects of the regime that are spreading hatred and creating the political environment for repression," alliance spokesman Jamie Shea told reporters.

Broken promises

At least 10 people are thought to have died and 18 were injured in the attack on the building in central Belgrade. Serbian officials have condemned Nato for breaking its promises not to target civilians.

Two electrical transformer stations were also attacked; both were said by Nato to be supplying power to military command centres.

(Click here for a map showing latest strikes)


[ image: Alliance leaders say the campaign of terror must end]
Alliance leaders say the campaign of terror must end
Nato leaders have expressed scepticism at the latest Russian initiative aimed at ending the conflict.

Victor Chernomyrdin, Russia's special envoy to the Balkans told reporters that during his visit to Belgrade earlier this week Mr Milosevic had agreed to the deployment of foreign military troops in the province and said he was planning to put the proposal formally to the Nato leadership.

But the Yugoslav government disputed Mr Chernomyrdin's version of the talks, saying only an unarmed force would be acceptable.


[ image:  ]
US officials have said they will insist that Yugoslavia allow an armed force into the province.

The UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, who is Washington for a summit of Nato leaders, said the offer appeared to fall short of the Alliance's requirements. He said Mr Chernomyrdin should work more on persuading President Milosevic to accept Nato's peace proposals.

The crisis has dominated the Washington summit originally intended as a celebration of Nato's 50th anniversary.

Fight to win

Instead, correspondents say the planned celebrations have transformed into a working summit on the progress of the campaign.


The BBC's John Sopel in Washington: Nato's anniversary summit has become a council of war
Opening the meeting the US President Bill Clinton and Secretary-General, Javier Solana, both said the Alliance remained united and determined to win.

"When we fight, we fight to prevail," Mr Clinton said, vowing to continue the campaign "for as long as it takes".

'Flames of anger'


The BBC's John Simpson: "It was the home of Milosevic's most powerful propaganda weapon"
He told the assembled leaders Nato's mission in Yugoslavia was aimed at "defending our values and our vision of a Europe free, undivided and at peace."

Mr Milosevic, he said, "fans the flames of anger between nations and peoples."


[ image: Any celebrations have been overtaken by talk of war]
Any celebrations have been overtaken by talk of war
He added that the alliance would work with Ukraine and Russia but would increase pressure on Belgrade, so that Yugoslavia could have a better future.

Mr Solana said the situation in Kosovo was a threat to democracy.

He said the Yugoslav leader, President Milosevic, must know that there could be no place for his policies in Europe in the twenty-first century.

Shared vision


[ image: Nato appears to be widening its range of targets]
Nato appears to be widening its range of targets
He said Nato members shared a vision of a Europe where all nations lived together in peace and in prosperity, "whose people feel secure, threatened neither by their neighbours nor by their own rulers."

With this in mind, the Secretary General said Nato could not remain indifferent to the situation in Kosovo.

Alliance leaders will not formally discuss the deployment of ground troops at the summit.

But BBC Defence Correspondent Jonathan Marcus, who is in Washington for the summit, says on the margins of the meeting there is growing talk about the need for a possible ground option once the air campaign has sufficiently weakened Yugoslav forces.

Our correspondent says that by broadening their campaign to define military targets in the very widest sense, the message from the summit is that the attacks will continue moving ever closer to Mr Milosevic's power base.


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