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NATO Bombs Prison Again, Kills 19




BELGRADE, Yugoslavia -- NATO jets bombed a prison in Kosovo for the second time in two days on Friday, killing 19 people including the deputy governor, the Serbian-run Media Center said.


It said at least 10 people were injured in the attack, during which NATO fired more than 20 missiles. Both prisoners and guards were among the casualties.


On the 58th night of airstrikes against Yugoslavia, four missiles also hit a Belgrade gasoline depot and the blast shattered the windows of the Swiss ambassador's residence as he was hosting a National Day reception.


Spokesman Jamie Shea said NATO had apologized for damaging several Belgrade embassies during recent bombing raids but ruled out any change to its strategy of hitting military targets throughout Yugoslavia.


The European Union banned airlines from around the world from using its airports to fly to and from Yugoslavia in the latest of a series of tightened sanctions against Belgrade.


A defiant President Slobodan Milosevic, meeting a visiting Greek delegation, denied what he called "the heinous accusation that our state is to blame for the exodus of Albanians from Kosovo."


Serbian radio quoted him as saying it was common knowledge that NATO bombing had caused the refugees to flee, adding that the United Nations should resolve the crisis.


Belgrade was emphasizing the political process. "We are open to a peaceful solution, open to diplomatic negotiations. We are open to playing a constructive role in reaching a political solution on Kosovo," Milosevic said.


The United States and Britain poured cold water on speculation about a bombing pause before Belgrade complied with NATO's demands on Kosovo.


Both U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and British Armed Forces Minister Doug Henderson made clear that an early halt to the campaign was not in the cards.


"What is being talked about among all of us is the necessity to continue in our sustained campaign, air campaign, in order to achieve what is necessary here," Albright said in an interview with BBC.


NATO began bombing on March 24 to enforce demands for the withdrawal of Yugoslav forces from Kosovo and security and a large measure of autonomy for the majority ethnic Albanian population in the southern Serbian province.


Hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanians have been driven from the province or fled. NATO says Belgrade must allow a strong international peace force, with a NATO "core" into Kosovo to ensure peace there.


The flow of refugees fleeing the violence in Kosovo continued Friday, albeit unevenly.


Hundreds reached Albania and officials said they expected thousands more in the first sizable arrival in a week. A policeman at the border said he believed about 7,000 people were on their way.


Numbers arriving at the main crossing into Macedonia were reported lower than in previous days. A UNHCR field officer said 470 came in the first half of the day.


At the bombed prison in Istok, some 70 kilometers west of Pristina, the governor said he believed a number of prisoners had escaped during the raids.


He said the 1,000 prisoners at the jail included many "terrorists," the Serbs' usual term for members of the separatist Kosovo Liberation Army.


NATO military spokesman General Walter Jertz told reporters the alliance attacked a security facility at Istok on Friday, but gave no details.


In Belgrade, the NATO attack that blew out windows at the Swiss envoy's home Thursday night sent guests diving for cover.


"At quarter past 8, we had just gotten to dessert when it exploded," Swedish Ambassador Mats Staffansson, whose own residence was damaged in a strike 24 hours earlier, told a Stockholm paper.

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