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Monday, April 26, 1999 Published at 11:56 GMT 12:56 UK World: Europe Nato tightens its grip ![]() Apaches could go into action this week Nato has warned that Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic faces an intensified bombing campaign, an oil embargo and increasing isolation.
Nato has called on the forces of opposition in Serbia to rise up against the leadership.
And the last bridge over the river Danube in Yugoslavia was destroyed overnight by Nato strikes.
The attack in the northern city of Novi Sad - the capital of the Vojvodina province - left it cut off from one of its three regions, Srem.
Tanjug said a fuel depot near the central Serbian town of Valjevo was also targeted and nine missiles hit an airport in Sombor, on the border with Hungary. There were further reports of heavy bombing in and around Pristina.
(Click here to see a map of last night's Nato strikes)
Nato rounded off its weekend summit in Washington by warning that it would step in if Yugoslavia attacked its neighbours.
Nato spokesman Jamie Shea said: "In the region, Milosevic is all alone. He is a pariah in his own backyard. His neighbours are moving away from him." Mr Milosevic has also been criticised from within his government by Vuk Draskovic, a former opposition figure, who joined the government of President Milosevic this year.
He said Russia was not going to help them militarily and that Nato was not on the verge of defeat. A BBC correspondent in Belgrade, Michael Williams, says Mr Draskovic's influence is limited and he may be attempting to position himself for the coming months and years as the voice of moderation. Montenegrin offer Nato's plans for an oil embargo against Yugoslavia have led Montenegro to offer to allow international monitors to oversee oil imports into the country. Montenegro - Serbia's partner in federal Yugoslavia - fears that a blockade could destabilise it and pave the way for a pro-Serbian coup. The government admits oil tankers are getting through to the port of Bar on the Adriatic coast, but insists the fuel is for use in Montenegro not Serbia. Prime Minister Filip Vujanovic said monitors could control of the delivery and distribution of oil imports. There has been some debate in Nato over how to apply an oil embargo. The French have said it should not be applied with force, but the Americans have suggested everyone will have to comply, including the Russians. Russian peace efforts However the US is also trying to maintain good relations with Russia and is attempting to show it is taking seriously Russia's attempts to broker a peace deal.
Mr Clinton also spoke to Russian President Boris Yeltsin for more than an hour on the telephone. He told the Russian leader that his involvement was constructive, and said he would stay personally engaged with him. No talk of ground troops The strongest message from the Nato summit was that the air campaign was being stepped up. Over the weekend, Nato's Supreme Commander in Europe, General Wesley Clark, reportedly requested Washington to double the number of Apache attack helicopters to 48. Divisive issues like the potential use of ground troops were avoided, although more Nato troops are due to go to the region, ostensibly to prepare the way for a future peacekeeping presence in Kosovo. Refugees on the move In Kosovo itself, 56 refugees are reported to have been killed by Serb forces in three villages in Lipljane.
The United Nations Children's Fund, Unicef, is to start immunisation refugees in camps in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on Monday morning, as fears grow that overcrowding could lead to the spread of major diseases. Around 800 refugees have been airlifted out of Macedonia and taken to Britain, the Netherlands, Spain and Turkey. Nato has said that 450,000-750,000 refugees remain displaced in the province.
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