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Brussels / BELGIUM ( RNN Correspondent ) March the 13th, 2000 NATO said Monday a report alleging alliance bombs killed some 500...
Brussels / BELGIUM ( RNN Correspondent ) March the 13th, 2000 NATO said Monday a report alleging alliance bombs killed some 500 Yugoslav civilians in Kosovo was legitimate criticism but insisted that its actions could never be compared to Serb violence in the province. Without contesting the findings of the Human Rights Watch study, NATO Secretary-General George Robertson underlined that Operation Allied Force was undertaken in March 1999 "as a last resort" to stop systematic killing of ethnic Albanians by Serb forces. Robertson noted that the critical report by the Washington-based Rights group had also concluded that "Serbian forces illegally used Roma as human shields for military targets, so adding to the number of civilian casualties." The Human Rights Watch report, which accuses NATO of violating international humanitarian law, "is a study that deserves serious analysis, not least because it exposes the deceit and dishonesty of Serb propaganda," the NATO Chief said. The report was "welcome...as a further contribution to the public's understanding of the full consequences" of the policies driven by Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, he said. During the bombing campaign, NATO on several occasions admitted some of its bombs had gone astray but never attempted to make any estimate of civilian casualties that resulted.
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