Source: http://www.usia.gov/regional/eur/balkans/kosovo/99040408.htm

04 April 1999

Massacre at Krusa Emadni (phon)

TRANSCRIPT: BRITISH BRIEFING ON NATO AND HUMANITARIAN AID

(BBC showed "grisly massacre" of 19 men in a Kosovo village) (3450)

London -- Doug Henderson, the British Minister of State for the armed forces told reporters
April 4 the reports of atrocities in Kosovo "took a gruesome turn last night with the film shown
by the BBC about the grisly massacre of 19 men in the village of Krusa Emadni (phon).

"That film," Henderson said, "shows in vivid terms the barbarity of Serbian troops and police and
explains all too clearly why thousands of people are fleeing Kosovo."

He then set out how NATO forces and the British contribution are responding to the
humanitarian crisis: "NATO deployed troops to Macedonia for a very specific purpose, to
provide a force to secure the return of refugees and displaced persons to their homes following a
political agreement to end the repression in Kosovo; they were not designed to provide
large-scale humanitarian aid but I have to say this morning that they have responded
magnificently."

Henderson said that NATO "has now told General Jackson, Commander of NATO forces in
Macedonia, to make the refugees his top priority."

The British Minister of State for the armed forces said that "we are taking other military
measures to help the international aid agencies who have the expertise and the experience but
they are clearly overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the tide of humanity forced to flee from the
brutality of the Serbian security forces.

"The number of refugees to leave Kosovo in the 24 hours to 10 a.m. yesterday was estimated at
70,000 -- this is equivalent to a town the size of Hastings. The total number estimated to have
left Kosovo since March 24th, is 370,000 -- this is equivalent to the population of a town the
size of Bristol. Taking into account displaced persons still within Kosovo, the total number of
refugees and displaced persons is estimated at more than 650,000 which is more than twice the
population of my own town, Newcastle-on-Tyne."

Following is the UK transcript:

(begin transcript)

Britain in the USA

Kosovo : MOD Press Briefing

Briefing by the Minister of State for the armed forces, Mr. Doug Henderson MP, and the
Deputy Chief of The Defence Staff (Commitments), Air Marshal Sir John Day,

4 April 1999

MR. HENDERSON: Today is Easter Sunday here and in Europe and people would normally
be enjoying a day of rest and peace but today atrocity is being committed at this very moment by
Serbian police and troops against the people of Kosovo laying waste villages, breaking up
communities and killing people. That is why NATO forces are in action today, to make clear to
the Milosevic regime that we will halt their terror by disrupting and weakening their military
power and I want on this Easter Sunday to pay tribute to all our forces wherever they are today
but particularly to those on duty whether in the air or naval action or helping the aid effort in
Macedonia.

Last night, NATO struck targets throughout Serbia and Kosovo, including bridges, fuel depots,
communication centres and army headquarters. We are now cutting deep into the Serbian war
machine and President Milosevic will now feel the full force of NATO air power. His forces are
increasingly isolated in the field and they are running short of fuel and ammunition.

The RAF Harriers were once again unable to complete bombing missions last night although on
this occasion it was the result of a technical problem and not the weather and Air Marshal Sir
John Day will have more to say about that in a moment.

I want to make it clear that President Milosevic must now expect the campaign to intensify and
bad weather will not save him.

I will now turn to the plight of the refugees fleeing for their lives from the devastation of their
homes and their communities in Kosovo. The reports of atrocities took a gruesome turn last night
with the film shown by the BBC about the grisly massacre of 19 men in the village of Krusa
Emadni (phon). That film shows in vivid terms the barbarity of Serbian troops and police and
explains all too clearly why thousands of people are fleeing Kosovo.

Let me now set out how NATO forces and the British contribution are responding to the
humanitarian crisis: NATO deployed troops to Macedonia for a very specific purpose, to
provide a force to secure the return of refugees and displaced persons to their homes following a
political agreement to end the repression in Kosovo; they were not designed to provide
large-scale humanitarian aid but I have to say this morning that they have responded
magnificently. I spoke yesterday about the work which they have done so far and Air Marshal
Day will be following up again on this in a moment.

NATO has now told General Jackson, Commander of NATO forces in Macedonia, to make
the refugees his top priority. We are taking other military measures to help the international aid
agencies who have the expertise and the experience but they are clearly overwhelmed by the
sheer scale of the tide of humanity forced to flee from the brutality of the Serbian security forces.
The number of refugees to leave Kosovo in the 24 hours to 10 a.m. yesterday was estimated at
70,000 - this is equivalent to a town the size of Hastings. The total number estimated to have left
Kosovo since March 24th, is 370,000 - this is equivalent to the population of a town the size of
Bristol. Taking into account displaced persons still within Kosovo, the total number of refugees
and displaced persons is estimated at more than 650,000 which is more than twice the
population of my own town, Newcastle-on-Tyne.

It is a problem which seems certain to get worse and that is why NATO and the aid agencies are
prepared to devote such resources to dealing with it. This will be done without compromising the
air campaign which is still the only choice of finding a way to enable them to return to their homes
in safety. We have set up a tented camp at Bajani (phon), we have established a food
distribution centre near Skopje to provide thousands of meals each day, Hercules flights with
tens of tonnes of blankets and other urgently needed supplies are continuing. Yesterday, the
Foreign Secretary announced another œ10 million of aid and announced a major new initiative to
establish a sanctuary for those poor people in Macedonia. Foreign Official officials are travelling
to Skopje today to push forward this initiative. Today, Clare Short, the International
Development Secretary, is visiting Macedonia and Albania to help the UN set priorities for the
supply and the delivery of aid.

People continue to ask how this crisis will be resolved. The Prime Minister made clear yesterday
that the cessation of killing alone is not enough. We will have no truck with false attempts by
President Milosevic to portray himself as a peace-maker. There has to be credible, verified
evidence of a withdrawal of Serbian forces, there has to be a political settlement including an
international guarantee force. These conditions are fundamental to the whole of the operation
which NATO is conducting. President Milosevic's barbarity will not be allowed to succeed, his
repugnant policy of ethnic cleansing must be defeated. Refugees from and people displaced
within Kosovo must be allowed to return to their homes.

People should be in no doubt that there is action on this Easter Sunday because President
Milosevic is determined to drive the population of Kosovo into exile. As the Prime Minister
made clear yesterday, we will not let this stand.

DAY: I will focus again today on two aspects of NATO's operations, first the air campaign and
then the humanitarian aid.

You will have gleaned from overnight media reporting that NATO carried out a substantial series
of attacks last night. This was in spite of the fact that continuing poor weather disrupted the
overall air effort and a technical difficulty with support aircraft led to the cancellation of part of
NATO's planned bombing missions. This latter problem led to the cancellation of the RAF
Harrier sorties and some fighter-bombers of other nations.

In spite of these difficulties, NATO attacked a wide range of targets which included ammunition
facilities, lines of communication, army headquarters and fuel storage and production facilities.
Attacks were also successfully conducted against the Serbian integrated air defence system.

The weather in the operational area is at last improving and we confidently expect that the full
weight of NATO's air power will be brought to bear over the next few days. NATO's absolute
resolve is clearly demonstrated by the intensity of last night's attacks, by the intensity which is
planned over the coming days and by the even greater intensity which will be possible when
further reinforcements, which have already been announced, are available in theatre from a
variety of NATO nations. It will continue for as long as necessary to bring Milosevic to his
senses. He and his forces are already paying a high price for their brutal repression and he and
his principal advisers should now reflect on the even higher price which they are about to pay.

I will now turn to what the British Army are doing to help with the humanitarian aid in
Macedonia: Having provided assistance at the Bajani (phon) refugee centre, British troops have
completed their support there and are handing over full responsibility to the Macedonian
government and relief agencies. Our efforts will now be focused on the refugee assistance centre
which is being set up at Brasda (phon). For example, 28 Engineer Regiment of the Royal
Engineers are helping to improve the site and British soldiers are doing all that they can to assist
the United Nations High Commission for Refugees with the transportation, storage and
preparation of food. At the airports at Skopje and Macedonia and at Thessalonika in Greece,
personnel of both the British Army and the Royal Air Force are helping with the arrival and
onward transportation of all manner of supplies for humanitarian aid.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

MIKE EVANS (THE TIMES): Do you still think that NATO is fighting the right war and
secondly, is Britain prepared to take tens of thousands of refugees in this country which
apparently is now the proposal?

HENDERSON: NATO is taking the action that it is taking because it faced a decision ten days
ago when there was ethnic cleansing continuing and killing continuing on whether to stand by idly
and let it happen or whether to take action and the sensible action to take is to take air action to
disrupt and to weaken President Milosevic's ability to conduct atrocity and war against the
people of Kosovo. That is why we started taking the action ten days ago and that is why we are
continuing with ever-increasing intensity.

On the question of refugees, President Milosevic first of all is responsible for this large number of
refugees, 650,000; the rightful place for those refugees is to return to their own communities in
Kosovo. What we have to do is undertake a military campaign to persuade President Milosevic
of the error of his ways and that he must meet the conditions which have been laid down by the
international community if peace is to be achieved. In the interim, of course, there are major
problems for refugees both in Kosovo, in the no-man's land between Kosovo and Macedonia
for instance and in Macedonia and we have to take what action we can to try to alleviate the
difficulties that they face and that is what we are doing.

It would be a matter for international discussion if it was found at some period in the future that
we were unable to return refugees to their homeland as to what happened to those refugees but
it would be premature at this stage to believe that there were plans which had been drawn up in
any specific terms.

QUESTION (THE SCOTSMAN);

Mr. Henderson, what reaction do you have to the complaint and allegations about the lack of
action being taken to help the refugees compared to the huge amount of money and resources
being poured into the air campaign by NATO countries? More children and people died
overnight in the refugees camps and people are now obviously starting to feel that maybe more
money and resources should be devoted to the refugees.

HENDERSON: The Prime Minister made clear yesterday that helping the refugees is a top
priority. It is not instead of taking the action to seek a long-term solution but is in addition to that
and that is why NATO has last evening indicated that it becomes a priority for NATO as well in
the areas where the refugees are. A lot of practical steps have been taken: eight flights have left
the UK, four of them from the International Development Department, four of them from the
Ministry of Defence, carrying tents, blankets, medical supplies. Our troops in Macedonia who
were there, as I indicated in my opening remarks, to potentially be part of a peace-keeping
force, have in the interim helped with the humanitarian crisis, they have gone out and purchased
food and so on to try to make things better. We have helped the aid agencies as well in a
number of different ways and our troops have also been involved in building certain shelters for
some of the refugees and this will continue and it has to be financed and will be financed.

Q: There were reports yesterday that there had been "a failure of imagination" about the scale
and level of the atrocities and ethnic cleansing that Milosevic has carried out. Is there - or won't
there - be a massive increase in British health and support for those refugees that you failed to
predict would be fleeing in such numbers?

HENDERSON: The Prime Minister said yesterday that we would stand by the people of
Kosovo in taking the necessary action, showing the resolve to persuade President Milosevic to
change his ways. We will also stand by those refugees from Kosovo who badly need our help
and today Clare Short is in both Skopje and in Tirana to see what the priorities should be, how
we can make sure that the right amount of aid is forthcoming and that it actually reaches the
people who are in need so we will be concentrating on that over the next two days.

QUESTION (THE INDEPENDENT): You mentioned, Mr. Henderson, that the Yugoslav
forces were running out of ammunition as well as fuel but what is the situation regarding the
NATO side? There were persistent reports last week that the stockpile of Cruise missiles for
example is far lower than expected and is that still the case or have they improved? Secondly,
the Government did admit that there had been a failure of foresight at the sheer ferocity of the
Serbian reaction against Kosovo, why was there such a failure of imagination and foresight?

HENDERSON: I will deal with the second part first and then I will ask Air Marshal Day to deal
with the Cruise missiles question. On the ferocity, it was impossible in a conflict situation to
anticipate in advance the level of atrocity that the Serbian forces would actually commit. We
know what they were doing up until the Paris peace talks, we anticipated that they would
continue over a period of time until such time as they responded to our military effort but they
have been extremely aggressive and rapid in trying to clear Kosovo of the Kosovar Albanians.
That is why we have intensified our military effort to reverse that situation so that as part of a
settlement to this conflict the refugees can return to their homeland.

DAY: NATO has been moving more weapons, including Cruise missiles, into the theatre and
further movements into the theatre will continue if necessary but you would not expect us to have
all our stocks in this theatre all at one time.

JAMES CLARK (DAILY MAIL): How do you react to the comment in the press today which
appeared to be emanating from the Prime Minister speaking about four years of war and if there
is any truth in that, if that is right, how does that check with your statement a moment about
looking after the Kosovo refugees? Clearly, they can't go home if we are going to be at war for
that length of time, they have got to go somewhere.

HENDERSON: I think you are referring to speculation in newspapers. What I can say is that we
are determined to continue with our action until such time as a settlement is reached and we can't
put any time-scale on that.

Q: Are you in a position today, after the intensity of the air attacks, to tell us how long it will take
you to achieve your objectives, days, weeks, months?

HENDERSON: I would like to be able to tell you that but clearly I can't. What I can tell you is
that we are determined to achieve our objectives, we have the stomach for it, we have the
commitment for it. We are going to stand by the people of Kosovo however long that takes.

NIGEL MORRIS (THE MIRROR): Could you tell us any more in layman's terms about the
technical difficulties that forced the abandonment of last night's Harrier sorties?

DAY: I can tell you a little bit more. The technical difficulties were not directly associated with
the Harrier. As I think you will be aware, NATO air packages involve a considerable diversity
of assets, support aircraft include electronic warfare support, air-to-air refuelling, command and
control and certain of these assets are absolutely vital if we are going to prosecute this campaign
successfully and minimise the risks to our crews and minimise the risks also of getting it wrong
basically. I am not going to tell you which particular aircraft types were unserviceable and nor
would you expect me to, that would endanger the lives of our crews and be tactical information
which I would not be prepared to divulge.

SAME MAN: Was it a problem with electronics?

DAY: No.

QUESTION (BBC NEWS): What do you say to a newspaper report today that NATO could
send in ground troops without a peace agreement as a peace-implementation force?

HENDERSON: If we were to send in ground troops, it would take a long period of time to
build up the necessary number of troops, estimates range upwards from 100,000 troops and that
would take a long period of time but even if we did that, there would still be an air campaign in
advance of any build-up of ground troops but we have no plans to bring ground troops into
Kosovo except as a peace-keeping force with the agreement of the parties.

Q: You said 100,000-plus but newspaper reports this morning claimed that it can be done with
far less numbers. Is that just pure nonsense or is the strategic figure of 200,000 plus necessary
for a successful military operation?

HENDERSON: It would clearly depend on the specific circumstances but it is extremely unlikely
that it would be possible with less than 100,000 troops. Maybe John Day would like to add to
that.

DAY: There have been a number of strategic estimates done of how many troops would be
required but the fundamental point, which the Minister has just made and I would like to
reiterate, is that an air campaign which would take some time would first be required even if we
had assembled a ground force ready to go in which would have taken some time to build up and
we would have needed to build that up under the thesis that some people put forward before the
air campaign started. Milosevic would have seen that build-up, would have felt, one would have
thought, reasonably confident of carrying out his ethnic cleansing knowing that we could not act
quickly, so we would have ended up having to use air power.

That leads on to the direct answer to your question which is what would the size of the ground
force be and it is exactly as the Minister says, it depends on the circumstances and how much of
the air campaign had been completed before the ground campaign were to begin.