BBC News Online: World: Europe

Nato regrets civilian deaths

The Alliance confirmed at a briefing on Saturday that it dropped 10 bombs on the village saying it was a "legitimate military target".

Nato said the village of Korisa had been used as a military camp since April and deeply regretted any accidental civilian casualties.

Speaking on the BBC, Nato spokesman Jamie Shea said: "We have reports that soldiers were also involved in the casualties, not simply civilians."

BBC Correspondent Jacky Rowland, who visited the village on Saturday, said she saw no evidence of any military equipment in the area although if there had been any it could have been moved over the past 24 hours.

Nato also denied Serbian reports that it dropped cluster bombs on the village.

Meanwhile, a committee of UK MPs has condemned a United Nations' agency for its handling of the Kosovo refugee crisis.

They said the UN High Commissioner for Refugees had not coped well when the crisis first broke, and was still failing to meet refugees' needs.

And the UN team heading for Kosovo, has left Geneva for the first part of its humanitarian mission to Yugoslavia.

Sixteen people from the UN's main agencies as well as the British Save the Children Fund, are on the way to Zagreb, where they'll travel overland to Belgrade.

The team expects to be in Belgrade on Sunday and in Kosovo by the middle of next week.

The Mission spokesman, David Chikraidze, said the team, which would be escorted by Yugoslav police, had been assured access to some of the towns where refugees had spoken of systematic ethnic cleansing.

Grieving relatives

Yugoslav officials insist there were no military targets in the Korisa area. If the Serb account is confirmed, Korisa would be the worst Nato blunder of its air campaign in terms of fatalities.

Pictures shot by foreign television crews showed a number of charred bodies - including those of at least two children - smouldering buildings and burned out tractors.

Grieving survivors remained in the area with around 50 women and children huddled, weeping in the cellar of a nearby house.

According to the Serbian authorities the majority of those killed and injured were women, children and the elderly. They say the victims were part of a convoy of 500 refugees travelling to Albania.

It is reported that about 80 bodies have so far been removed from the scene but Serb authorities say the final death toll could be higher.

The news of the devastation at Korisa came as Nato gave details of what it said was its heaviest 24-hours of bombing in the campaign against Yugoslavia so far.

(Click here to see a map of the most recent Nato strikes)

The alliance says it has been increasing the frequency and force of its bombing in Kosovo, targeting the heavy armour of the Yugoslav military and special police units there, while taking all measures to avoid civilian casualities.

Nato warplanes attacked several targets in Serbia on Saturday, Tanjug news agency reported.

Explosions were reported by the Yugoslav state news agency, Tanjug, at Cacak and, 120km southwest of Belgrade, Kraljevo, 150km south of Belgrade.

Tanjug also reported that villages near Kraljevo were attacked.

Fall-out clears

The diplomatic fall-out from the Nato bombing of China's embassy in Belgrade appears to be easing.

After repeated US apologies Chinese President Jiang Zemin and US President Bill Clinton held their first telephone conversation since last Friday's attack which Nato said was a result of using outdated maps.

The UN Security Council has also expressed "profound regret and deep sorrow" for the attack, after a week of bitter wrangling in which China's proposed text was diluted.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has announced that he will visit Macedonia and Albania next week, to assess the needs of the refugees there, and to show solidarity with their suffering.

• Picture gallery: Village 'bombing'
• UNHCR hits back at critics
• UN 'regrets' embassy attack
• Montenegrin president condemns Milosevic
• Clinton phones Chinese president

(click here to return)

Relevant Stories

UNHCR hits back at critics (15 May 99 | UK)
Montenegrin president condemns Milosevic (15 May 99 | Europe)
Picture gallery: Village 'bombing' (14 May 99 | Europe)
Clinton phones Chinese president (14 May 99 | Americas)
First Lady visits refugees (14 May 99 | Europe)
US ready to use Apaches (14 May 99 | Europe)
Analysis: The CIA's catalogue of blunders (13 May 99 | World)
Fifty days on: How credible is Nato? (12 May 99 | Europe)

Internet Links

Nato
Serbian Ministry of Information
Kosovo Crisis Centre
UNHCR Kosovo news
Eyewitness accounts of the bombing
OSCE
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

In this section

Violence greets Clinton visit
Russian forces pound Grozny
EU fraud: a billion dollar bill
Next steps for peace
Cardinal may face loan-shark charges
Vodafone takeover battle heats up (From Business)
Trans-Turkish pipeline deal signed
French party seeks new leader
Jube tube debut
Athens riots for Clinton visit
UN envoy discusses Chechnya in Moscow
Solana new Western European Union chief
Moldova's PM-designate withdraws
Chechen government welcomes summit
In pictures: Clinton's violent welcome
Georgia protests over Russian 'attack'
UN chief: No Chechen 'catastrophe'
New arms control treaty for Europe
Mannesmann fights back (From Business)
EU fraud -- a billion-dollar bill
New moves in Spain's terror scandal
EU allows labelling of British beef
UN seeks more security in Chechnya
Athens riots for Clinton visit
Russia's media war over Chechnya
Homeless suffer as quake toll rises
Analysis: East-West relations must shift