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War in Europe: A week in conflict

Chris Brown
Saturday 15 May 1999 23:02 BST
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SUNDAY 9 MAY

The focus is fixed on Nato's catastrophic blunder in bombing the Chinese embassy, which the US blames on faulty CIA intelligence. For the second night, angry mobs hurl stones at the US embassy in Peking.

MONDAY 10 MAY

Nato dismisses Serbia's offer to withdraw some troops from Kosovo as a crude ploy. Tony Blair attacks the media, accusing them of focusing on mistakes while ignoring the plight of refugees.

TUESDAY 11 MAY

The 50th day of the conflict. Refugees continue to pour across the Albanian border, and UNHCR accepts Kosovar Albanians are likely to spend next winter in makeshift camps.

WEDNESDAY 12 MAY

Boris Yeltsin sacks his Prime Minister, Yevgeny Primakov, and the cabinet, posing fresh doubts over Russia's ability to broker a diplomatic solution. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder, visits China, saying Peking may accept, as an outline for negotiation, the peace proposal formulated at last week's G8 summit.

THURSDAY 13 MAY

Green Party delegates avert a threat to bring down Germany's "Red-Green" coalition, backing their leader, Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer. Russian foreign ministers tell US Deputy Secretary of State, Strobe Talbott, that the Kremlin would make "serious changes" to its position if Nato bombing does not stop.

FRIDAY 14 MAY

Yet another Nato catastrophe. Serbia accuses the alliance of killing up to 100 civilians in the Kosovan village of Korisa in overnight raids: the worst case of "collateral damage" since the campaign began. The Foreign Ministry in Moscow describes it as "another Nato war crime".

SATURDAY 15 MAY

At the end of the worst week for Nato, the alliance is forced to admit that it bombed Korisa, but says it was an important command centre with heavy weaponry and was, therefore, a "legitimate military target".

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