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Belgrade fury after missile strikes

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Belgrade's residents woke to a scene of destruction at the heart of their capital after Nato launched cruise missile strikes at government targets.

US and UK forces fired eight missiles at two ministries described by Nato as the centre of the military machine carrying out ethnic cleansing in Kosovo.

Nato's spokesman warned that no part of the military apparatus could be considered "sanctuary".

Yugoslav Deputy Prime Minister Vuk Draskovic called the Nato attack "a crime against the Serbian nation''.

"Downtown Belgrade is on fire on the biggest Christian day of Easter,'' he said. ''The last time Belgrade was on fire over Easter was in 1941 when Hitler bombed it."

A senior Russian delegation in Belgrade also condemned the raid.

Early morning pictures of the Serbian and federal interior ministries showed the buildings completely burnt out.

State-run Serbian television broadcast pictures of fires raging out of control during the night.

Women clutching babies were shown being evacuated from a maternity ward in a nearby major hospital.

BBC correspondents in Belgrade report no evidence of casualties other than emergency teams injured by flying glass.

Refugees top 320,000

Eight people, four of them babies, died overnight on the Macedonian border as the plight of Kosovo Albanian refugees worsened.

The UN refugee agency reported that the number of ethnic Albanians who had either fled or have been expelled from Kosovo since Nato began its bombing had reached 320,000. Belgrade has blamed Nato for the exodus.

As of 3 April, 115,000 have reached the Macedonian border and another 170,000 crossed into Albania. Refugees report that Serb forces are holding thousands in Pristina, the provincial capital, in preparation for expulsion.

Tension is reported to be rising in Macedonia with aid agencies complaining the government is forcing refugees to stay at border crossings.

Nato has also confirmed that two Spanish journalists are being held by Serbs after being captured on the border between Yugoslavia and Macedonia.

Meanwhile in Albania, concerns are growing over how one of the poorest countries in Europe can cope with the uncontrollable numbers of people entering daily.

Explosions rock capital

The missiles were launched on Belgrade from vessels in the Adriatic Sea.

Speaking to BBC Radio Four's Today Programme, Nato spokesman Jamie Shea described the targets as the "brains of the operation" against ethnic Albanians.

"We always made it clear that no target in Yugoslavia directly associated with the military activities would be considered a sanctuary."

He rejected allegations on Serbian television that Nato had committed a criminal act, saying that the "collateral damage" had been minimal.

"We are not going to do anything to inflict suffering on innocent civilians," he added.

US warns Russia

Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov discussed the Kosovo crisis with United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Friday night, although a government spokesman released no details.

Russian State Duma Deputy Speaker Sergey Baburin, currently in Belgrade, said the latest Nato raid showed ''a cannibal'' had appeared in Europe.

Mr Milosevic has asked Moscow for military aid - a request so far rejected.

President Milosevic said: "If we have assistance, then we will defend our country more easily.

"If we have none, then defending it will be harder, but we will definitely defend it."

Washington has warned Russia that it would be a grave mistake to give Yugoslavia military assistance of any kind.

The warning came as a Russian reconnaissance ship reached the Bosporus Straits on its way to the Adriatic to monitor events.

Moscow says the vessel will stay out of the conflict and not share intelligence with Belgrade.

The USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier is also approaching the region to join Nato's operation.

Trial planned

Washington is continuing to campaign for the release of three US soldiers captured on the Macedonia-Kosovo border.

Yugoslavia says the men will face charges either of spying or of making an illegal incursion - allegations denied by the US.

The US has also complained that the International Red Cross is being denied access to the men.

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Internet Links

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