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Nato vows to 'tighten the screw'

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.

"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.

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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.

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.

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'

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."

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

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.

• Nato defends TV bombing
• 'Two in three support strikes'
• KLA recruits sign up
• Aid reaches stranded refugees
• Tony Blair - Kosovo crusader
• Russia proposes peace deal

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Relevant Stories

'Moral outrage' underpins Blair's war (23 Apr 99 | UK Politics)
Nato defends TV bombing (23 Apr 99 | Europe)
Clubbing for Kosovo (23 Apr 99 | UK)
Tony Blair: Kosovo crusader (22 Apr 99 | World)
KLA recruits sign up (23 Apr 99 | UK)
Aid reaches stranded refugees (23 Apr 99 | Europe)
'Two in three support strikes' (23 Apr 99 | Europe)
Russia proposes peace deal (22 Apr 99 | Europe)
Milosevic denies ethnic cleansing (22 Apr 99 | Europe)
Analysis: Who will rebuild the Balkans? (22 Apr 99 | Kosovo)

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