By Jean Christou
House President Spyros Kyprianou has failed to persuade Yugoslav President Slobadan Milosevic to release three US servicemen captured by Serb forces near Kosovo.
Speaking to journalists in Belgrade after his two and a half hour meeting with Milosevic last night, Kyprianou expressed deep regret that he didn’t manage to achieve his goal to have the soldiers released.
He said there would be no further peace gestures on the part of the Serbs at the present time. “The message received by the Yugoslav leadership and people is that the relentless bombardments will continue,” Kyprianou said. “There is a feeling that every step taken towards peace provokes instead of creating better conditions”.
He also said that it was obvious that the US and Nato allies had not taken his initiative seriously and that as far as he could see the Nato bombing had intensified since his humanitarian mission began on Wednesday.
Kyprianou had asked the Americans for a 24-hour Nato ceasefire to safely complete his mission to the Yugoslav capital, but the answer was negative although his flight was given safe passage.
“I expected better from the allies,” he said. “I saw things here which would caused despair.”
The House President said, however, he could not preclude that if conditions improved “there might be a new effort”. Kyprianou is expected to return to Cyprus some time today.
According to Associated Press (AP), after yesterday’s meeting Milosevic’s office issued a brief announcement saying Kyprianou had condemned the Nato air attacks on Yugoslavia.
US President Bill Clinton, commenting on Kyprianou’s mission
yesterday said he would welcome any “honourable” way in which the three soldiers could be released. “We would like to see the servicemen released. They never should have been detained in the first place,” he said.
“They were in Macedonia. They had nothing to do with the operations against Serbia and I would be for anything honourable that would secure their release”.
The three soldiers, Staff Sgt Andrew Ramirez, 24, Staff Sgt Christopher Stone, 25, and Specialist Steven Gonzales, 24, were captured near the border of Kosovo last week and paraded, with one showing bruises, on Serbian TV. Belgrade said they were seized on Yugoslavian soil.
Kyprianou left Cyprus on Wednesday afternoon to travel to Belgrade via Athens on board a Greek C-130 `Hercules’ to negotiate for the release of the soldiers. Initially it was hoped he would be picking up the three Americans and returning immediately to Cyprus but the Greek plane which brought Kyprianou returned immediately to Athens leaving him to book into a Belgrade hotel.
The House President was confident before he left the island that his mission would be successful and stated that Milosevic had indicated he was willing to hand over the Americans without preconditions.
However, it is believed complications arose after heavy Nato air raids on Tuesday night soured the atmosphere for any possible goodwill on the part of Milosevic. A source close to the Serb leader told Reuters on Thursday that there would be no release of the soldiers.
But Kyprianou initially said he was willing to stay in Belgrade until his efforts for the release of the soldiers was exhausted. On Thursday night he attended a dinner in his honour hosted by the Yugoslav Senate and Parliament which was also attended by the Yugoslav Foreign Minister.
Earlier yesterday Kyprianou was taken on an unexpected tour of Nato bomb damage in the town of Aleksinac, some two hours’ drive from Belgrade. The House President was accompanied by Serbian officials to the small mining town in central Serbia, south of Belgrade.
There Kyprianou viewed damages caused to civilian housing by Nato bombs and spoke to some of the 500 villagers. Nato says it is aiming only at military or military-related targets but, according to Reuters, has admitted its missile might have missed in Aleksinac.
Asked by journalists what he felt he could do, Kyprianou said:
“If I can help for peace I will do it, but this is not my mission”.
