BRIEFING BY THE UK FCO MINISTER OF STATE,
MR. DEREK FATCHETT,
AND VICE CHIEF OF THE DEFENCE STAFF, ADMIRAL SIR PETER ABBOTT

8 MAY 1999

MR FATCHETT:
During the night we have had tragic news, the Chinese embassy in Belgrade was stuck by a missile. According to our latest reports, two people were killed and perhaps more than twenty injured. We do not yet have the full details of what happened but NATO has issued a statement of regret, the British Government fully shares that regret.

In a moment, we will be joined live from Edinburgh by the Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook, I also have with me here on the platform the Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff, who will bring you up to date with all the latest military information on the air campaign.

NATO has in the last six weeks carried out more than 5,000 sorties and has succeeded in disrupting President Milosevic's military machine and destroyed much of the weaponry he uses to oppress the people of Kosovo. In every one of those sorties, NATO has done everything possible to avoid civilian casualties, it goes without saying that it is inconceivable that NATO could have deliberately targeted the Chinese embassy.

Last night's military activity concentrated on disrupting the national leadership of the military and special police operationsm in particular, NATO targeted and hit the Hotel Yugoslavia which was used as a barracks and headquarters for Arkan's Tigers; I do not need to remind you that Arkan is an indicted war criminal.

I will now ask the Vice-Chief to bring us up to date on the recent military activities.

ADMIRAL ABBOTT:
Thank you, Minister. In another day of intense air activity by NATO, about 600 sorties were flown despite poor weather, operations included the most intensive night of attacks on strategic infrastructure in Belgrade since the beginning of the air campaign. A wide range of military and strategic targets were attacked including the airfield at Nis, communications facilities, radio and television relay stations, supply lines and elements of the electricity system.

Targets in Belgrade included the Dobonovici (phon) command complex; above ground this is one of the residences used by Milosevic, underground it houses a major bunker complex which we believe was the centre of Milosevic's high command following the destruction of other command facilities in Belgrade.

Also attacked was the Hotel Yugoslavia which was being used as a barracks for Arkan's notorious paramilitary Tigers. The hotel has long been under his control, he owned the casino as well as the sports club and since the air campaign began his forces have taken over the whole building as a command centre for the operations in Kosovo; it has also been used as an alternate headquarters for the Special Police, the paramilitary force responsible for many of the atrocities being committed. Other targets of high value to Milosevic's military machine were also hit last night.

Last night, there was a terrible accident, NATO did not intentionally target the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, the wrong building was attacked. NATO deeply regrets any deaths or injuries to the Chinese diplomatic personnel or any other innocent civilians and damage to the embassy. 

As we have consistently made clear, NATO makes every effort to avoid collateral damage or casualties, NATO selects targets directly related to Milosevic's machine of repression, we never intentionally target civilians. When we make a mistake, we admit it, the overwhelming majority of our strikes are accurate and we cannot allow such incidents to deflect us from our purpose which is to bring an end to the murderous campaign of ethnic cleansing that is being carried out by the Yugoslav regime in Kosovo. The operation will continue until Milosevic meets the five conditions laid down by NATO.

I will now say something about UK activity yesterday:

Seven Harriers flew sorties attacking Cinica (phon) airfield with 1,000 lb bombs dropped through cloud, other Harriers flew but did not release their weapons because of the unsuitable weather. The Tornado missions were also cancelled because of weather.

Four Sea Harrier combat air patrols were flown from HMS Invincible and there were also a number of support missions comprising four by Tristar tankers, three by E3-D Sentry Awacs aircraft and all of our aircraft returned safely.

Yesterday, the United States announced it was making a further 176 aircraft available to NATO for the campaign in Yugoslavia including A-10 and tanker aircraft and these aircraft will provide a further boost to our air power, providing still more flexibility and power to strike at targets; they will also send the message to President Milosevic once more that not only will there be no let-up in the campaign but that we will continue to intensify it; each day sees a further diminution of his military forces and the infrastructure which supports him.

MR FATCHETT:
Thank you very much for those opening comments. We can now be joined by the Foreign Secretary on the link from Edinburgh.

MR COOK:
Thank you, Derek. At the outset of this campaign, we made it clear that we could not conduct a military campaign of the intensity necessary to make an impact on President Milosevic and his war machine and at the same time guarantee there would be no civilian casualties. We regret that it was the brutality of President Milosevic that compelled us to take military action in order to provide a safe Kosovo for the people to return to and live under our security and we deeply regret any civilian casualties that happen in the course of our military campaign.

Tony Blair will today be writing to Juronjay (phon), the Chinese Premier, expressing to him our great regret at the hitting of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, conveying to him our condolences at the loss of life and also assuring him that there is no question of the Chinese embassy having been a deliberate target. All the targets that we tasked our pilots with in Belgrade last night were military targets, in particular the nearby war-room of Arkan's paramilitaries. It is those paramilitaries that have carried out so much of the killing, the burning and the looting in Kosovo over the past six weeks; by anybody's test, their war-room - which has co-ordinated their activity - is a legitimate military target.

I have spoken by phone this morning to Igor Ivanov, the Russian Foreign Minister, he was keen to convey that his inability to come to Britain this weekend does not reflect any difficulty in our bilateral relationship but the additional pressure on him which requires him to remain in Moscow following last night's tragic accident. We have agreed that he should come to Britain as soon as possible and we will together be looking at future dates.

I did in particular discuss with Igor Ivanov our very successful meeting last Thursday when, with our colleagues in the G8, we agreed on a very full set of principles as a basis for a settlement on Kosovo. Igor Ivanov has assured me that Russia stands by those principles it agreed to on Thursday and regards them as a firm foundation on which we can build together for a settlement. The work on that diplomatic track continues and today, even as we speak, Viktor Chernomyrdin and Carl Bildt are meeting together to co-ordinate their efforts and I hope to hear from them when their meeting is concluded.

But I do want to stress that if we want that diplomatic track to succeed, then we must keep up the pressure on the military track and we are having a real impact on the war machine in Kosovo; within the past two days within Kosovo we have destroyed tanks, artillery batteries, a military convoy and command posts. Our only prospect of getting Milosevic to accept our demands is to convince him of our resolve and to demonstrate that his war machine continues to weaken. The real victims of this conflict are those tragic refugees living in great plight in the refugee camps or even greater plight on the hillsides and the forests within Kosovo hiding from the Serb police; they have been driven from their homes and have seen their homes destroyed not as a result of any tragic accident but as a result of a deliberate campaign of ethnic cleansing and killing by the Serb paramilitary police and army units. 

We remain committed to secure their return to their homes under our protection and we will not be diverted from that key commitment because to do so would be a betrayal of those refugees.

Derek, tragically, overnight we have fresh evidence of the brutality and terror that now stalks Kosovo. The Foreign Office has heard in the last hour from Spand Agani (phon), the son of Fefni Agani who was one of the distinguished Kosovar Albanians who took part in the Rambouillet peace talks and whom I had grown to know well over the past year, his son has confirmed that Fefni Agani was arrested by Serb police from their home in Pristina two days ago. His body has just recently been returned to the family home by the Serb police. Spand Agani does not believe the claim of Belgrade that Fefni was killed by the KLA whilst under arrest by the Serb police, they believe that he was killed by the Serb police. If so, it is the latest example of the brutality and the butchery which is why we are waging a military campaign and why we will continue until we end the killing and enable the family of Fefni Agani and the families of hundreds of thousands of others currently in exile to return to their homes in security.

MR FATCHETT:
Thank you, Robin, for those opening words. We are in a position to take questions. Can I ask people, because of the video link, that you announce your name and just wait for the microphone because I think there will be a slight time lag.

MICHAEL CLARK (PRESS ASSOCIATION):
Can I ask the Foreign Secretary what he thinks the diplomatic impact of the attack on the Chinese embassy will be and what the latest he has heard from the UN is from the Security Council?

MR COOK:
I am encouraged by my conversation with Igor Ivanov and I believe that both the countries of the West and the G8 and also Russia are determined that we should continue to vigorously pursue that diplomatic track. Igor Ivanov made it clear there was no shift in the Russian position on the principles that they signed up to on Thursday which include the safe return of the refugees under international protection. There will be a vigorous exchange on the diplomatic track in the course of this week and I will be in contact with all those who are also seeking to carry to Belgrade the principles that we have approved and to press Belgrade for agreement.

But let us also be clear, we are not interested in peace at any price, peace can only come when we have an outcome which meets our bottom line that the refugees must not only be allowed back but be allowed back under international protection because without credible protection they won't go back.

QUESTION (KOSOVAN JOURNALIST):
(verbatim)

Mr. Cook, I hear today's briefing and the first … is of course the Chinese embassy. In the last days we hear about incidents. Are you feeling that the Kosovan people get marginalised bit by bit as air strikes go on and in the beginning all we know was that the aim was to save the Kosovan people. We have no idea what is going on inside, indeed we see outside just refugees, inside a million people are in a Kosovan concentration camp and nobody can approach to them at all so my question is by sending people far away in third countries - Canada, America, whatever - and by keeping still an embargo towards KLA or Albanians, by not sending ground troops and by keeping Kosovo to remain under Serbia, indeed Milosevic ... which will negotiate I am afraid this .... another ....... the future of Kosovo, could you tell me?

MR COOK:
First of all, can I assure you there is no question of accepting an outcome in which Kosovo remains, as you expressed it a moment ago, under Milosevic's rule, quite the reverse. Only last Thursday, we all agreed, including Russia, that Kosovo must be governed by an international administration for an interim period whilst we resolve the long-term future of Kosovo and it will be necessary for all the bodies of the international community - the UN, the OSCE, the European Union - to participate in the reconstruction of Kosovo. We intend to provide that interim administration, we have no intention of allowing President Milosevic to rule Kosovo because we know perfectly well that the only condition in which the refugees can return in security is one in which the international community provides their protection.

But your question very usefully and helpfully points out that of course, as we focus understandably and correctly on the tragic loss of life in the Chinese embassy and the error that has been committed there, we should not lose sight of the thousands of people who have been killed in Kosovo, the hundreds of thousands who have been driven from their homes and today live either in refugee camps or in terror for their lives on the hillsides of Kosovo. It is because of the extraordinary brutality of what has happened in Kosovo and the terror visited upon it, that we are engaged in this military campaign and nobody should forget that all loss of life on both sides in this conflict is the responsibility of President Milosevic for his persistent refusal to negotiate a solution or to respect basic human decency in Kosovo.

MR FATCHETT:
Are there any other points than anybody would like to raise? If not, can I thank you for your attendance and we look forward to seeing you on the next occasion. Thank you, Robin.