Cyprus Mail: Press Review in English, 99-04-16

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From: The Cyprus Mail at <http://www.cynews.com/>

Friday, April 16, 1999

Nato slammed for convoy attack

THE NATO attack on a convoy of ethnic Albanians in western Kosovo, which, according to Serbian television, killed 75 people, drew universal condemnation from yesterday's dailies.

The main headlines were indicative of the general outrage against the attack, which several papers sarcastically referred to as "another mistake".

These were some of yesterday's headlines: "Murderous attack by Nato" - Simerini; "Peace proposal with merciless massacre - Phileleftheros; "Nato crime" - Politis; "Nato bombing blindly Machi.

"At a time when European leaders in Brussels were trying to open a window for peace, Nato missiles were bringing death and despair to those they were supposedly protecting - the Kosovar refugees," said Phileleftheros.

The two-hour informal summit meeting of the EU, attended by UN Secretary- general Kofi Annan, was considered an attempt at finding a role for the EU and the UN that would distance them from US policy in Kosovo, the paper said. The meeting drafted a peace plan calling for an end to the use of violence, the withdrawal of all troops from Kosovo, the return of all refugees and the deployment of a multinational peacekeeping force in the area.

Alithia gave prominence to the peace plan, which had been drafted by Germany and adopted by the EU. It described the plan, as "possibly the last chance for (President) Milosevic". The plan had been accepted by Nato and the US and gave rise to hopes that it would end the war.

Nato described the plan as useful and said that Yugoslavia should respond positively to all the plan's conditions including the one for the withdrawal of Serbian troops. Under the plan all Serb troops would withdraw and Kosovo would be policed by an international force.

Politis reported that the German presidency of the EU had raised the issue of Cyprus' stance in the Kosovo crisis at the Brussels summit. It was the first time since the Nato air strikes began that the West's displeasure with Cyprus' stance took this "serious form".

Greece's Prime Minister Costas Simitis defended the Cyprus government at the summit, claiming that there should be a differentiation between the government's line on Kosovo and the position of the political parties. The situation was no different from Greece. The Cyprus government had admitted it had been receiving complaints from western governments about the parties.

Haravghi reported that representatives of the communist party Akel had been given a "warm welcome" on their arrival in Belgrade, where they went to show their party's solidarity with the Yugoslav people. The Akel delegation, which consisted of deputies Nicos Katsourides and Doros Christodoulides, had tried to arrange a meeting with the Yugoslav Foreign Minister.

Simerini reported that state hospital doctors were set for a new confrontation with the government after negotiations between the two sides had reached deadlock. According to the doctors' union, the latest proposals submitted by the government were "much worse" than those submitted last year.

The doctors are hoping that the new Minister of Finance, whom union representatives were set to meet next week, would help bridge the differences. If he failed, a strike would be inevitable.

© Copyright Cyprus Mail 1999

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