YUGOSLAVIA: KOSOVO: MILOSEVIC VISITS ALEKSINAC

(15 Jun 1999) Natural Sound
TOKO MATERIAL

Hours before he was due to attend a celebration in honour of Army Day, Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic instead travelled to the town of Aleksinac.

On his arrival Milosevic made his second public appearance in as many days on Tuesday.

Aleksinac is a central Serbian town which was devastated in April by NATO missiles gone astray.

Milosevic visited the town of Aleksinac along with a group of top government and army officials.

It was his second public appearance since last October.

Standing outside the town's damaged hospital, Milosevic addressed crowds of several thousand people.

Those gathered chanted pro-Milosevic slogans as Serb and Yugoslav flags were waved.

In his speech, the Serb leader said that NATO's worst air campaign casualties were suffered here in Aleksinac.

SOUNDBITE: (Serbo-Croat)
"Citizens of Aleksinac, of all the crimes in our country, the worst crime was committed in Aleksinac. The absurdity of the violence in our country is in Aleksinac, because Aleksinac is a totally civilian town, in it there were no big army, no small army, no police. Led there be no war ever, led there be a happy beginning of rebuilding Aleksinac.
SUPER CAPTION: Yugoslav President, Slobodan Milosevic

According to Serbian Tanjung news agency more than thirty people were killed and many buildings were hit on April 6 when NATO missiles went astray.

The missiles severely hit a residential area in Aleksinac.

Milosevic visited the town to mark the beginning of its reconstruction works.

He inaugurated the foundations for future apartment block buildings envisaged to house 58 families left homeless in the airstrikes.

Later, Milosevic also toured the town's ruins where many of the casualties were suffered.

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