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Kosovo 'Massacre' Prompts Talk of Air Strikes
Discovery of an apparent massacre of civilians in the town of Racek in Kosovo aroused worldwide outrage and talk of NATO strikes against Belgrade.
Start Date: 1/25/99
The discovery of 45 ravaged bodies in the ethnic Albanian town of Racak, Kosovo province on January 16, 1999 aroused immediate outrage in the world community and prompted U.S. and British leaders to raise the prospect of NATO air strikes against forces loyal to Serb President Slobodan Milosevic.
Serb forensic pathologists conducting examinations of the bodies declared there was no evidence of deliberate massacre, saying instead that the 45 victims apparently were killed in the heat of battle. But William Walker, head of a U.S.-led Kosovo ceasefire verification mission, said after inspecting the gruesome scene that a massacre had clearly been perpetrated against unarmed civilians, including women and a young boy. His remarks so infuriated Milosevic that the Serb leader ordered Walker to leave the country, but that order was refused. Milosevic also denied entry into the country of Louise Arbour, head of an international war crimes tribunal, who had come to conduct her own investigation of the alleged massacre.
Meanwhile, a group of forensic experts from Finland, called in to assist the Serb examination of the bodies, refused to endorse the claim of Serb Dr. Slavisa Dobricanin that the bodies showed no signs of massacre.
NATO forces were moved to within air strike distance at week's end. "NATO credibility is on the line" in this latest showdown with Milosevic, said U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen. Meanwhile, diplomats descended on the region in renewed efforts to reach a settlement without military strikes.
Details of the latest diplomatic strategy released to Reuters news service indicate that negotiators may present a take-it-or-leave-it ultimatum to both sides. Yugoslavia would have to grant self-rule in Kosovo province or face NATO bombing; Kosovo Albanians would have to abandon their demand for independence or lose international support. Neither side has accepted such terms in the past.
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