BELGIUM: KOSOVO CRISIS: NATO IBRAHIM RUGOVA PRESS CONFERENCE

(4 Apr 1999) English/Nat

NATO has received reports that Ibrahim Rugova, the moderate ethnic Albanian leader, is under house arrest by Serb forces in Pristina, the capital of Kosovo.

A spokesman on Sunday said that the alliance had learned that Rugova's house was permanently occupied by Serb security forces and that the politician himself had to report to local police several times a day.

Last Thursday, Serb state-run television showed Rugova meeting Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.

Serb television reported that Rugova called for an end to NATO airstrikes.

However, spokesman Jamie Shea said NATO has learned that Rugova, in fact, called "for the cessation of violence in Kosovo" and that Serb television had altered his message.

He added that it was believed that the television pictures shown were at least two years old and were shot at the time of the signing of an accord about Albanian education in Kosovo schools.

Shea also told reporters that a NATO delegation will travel to four neighbouring countries of Yugoslavia on Monday to show political support and consult on the refugee crisis.

Led by NATO Deputy Secretary General Sergio Balanzino, the mission will go to Romania and Bulgaria, then to Macedonia and Albania on Tuesday.

On Sunday, NATO struck before dawn at targets in the Belgrade area and elsewhere in the Serbian heartland.

British Air Commodore David Wilby, NATO's military spokesman, said that "while poor weather affected some of
our sorties, both manned and cruise missiles were able to hit their targets".

He said the weather forced the allies to concentrate their assaults around Belgrade, "with attacks being directed
against major army and security force facilities in the city".

He added that the outlook was for better weather in the days ahead and that the alliance would exploit that to the fullest.

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