(30 Mar 1999) English/Nat
President Bill Clinton has been meeting with his top foreign policy advisors in Washington on Monday to discuss the latest developments in the Kosovo crisis.
This comes as indications of "genocide" are unfolding in Kosovo, according to a U-S State Department spokesman.
And as refugees stream across Kosovo's borders, U-S officials continue to say their are no plans to send ground troops into Yugoslavia.
U-S President Bill Clinton returned to Washington on Monday, after a brief stay at the presidential retreat, Camp David.
Shortly after stepping off the Marine One helicopter, he began meeting with his top military and foreign policy advisors.
The meeting came amid reports of Serb atrocities against Kosovo Albanians.
As refugees from Kosovo stream across its borders, they bring with them accounts of hundreds of unarmed civilians being executed.
At the State Department, James Rubin again raised the specter of war crimes trials and also said President Slobodan Milosevic may be held accountable.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"There are indicators that genocide is unfolding in Kosovo, but we are looking at a mixture of confirmed and unconfirmed reports at this time. There is no reason, however, to await confirmation of genocide because we can clearly say crimes against humanity are being committed by Milosevic's forces."
SUPER CAPTION: James Rubin, State Department Spokesman
At the White House, Press Secretary Joe Lockhart insisted that NATO airstrikes are not responsible for inflaming ethnic hatred and spurring an exodus.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"We've seen tens of thousands of refugees moving out of that country, even within the last day. But this is a price that -- everything we know about Milosevic and the Serbs, that they were going ahead with this, and we were faced with a choice here, which was do we act or do we not act? And we think by acting we will make him pay a price, that he is paying a price that is a price that he will not be able to sustain.
SUPER CAPTION: Joe Lockhart, White House Press Secretary
While Clinton and his top advisors, including Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Defence Secretary William Cohen, work to maintain allied support, there is some movement on the diplomatic front.
Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov plans meet with Yugoslav officials in Belgrade.
Rubin says he hopes the Russians will be able to persuade the Yugoslav president to stop his crackdown on civilians in Kosovo.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"We welcome any diplomatic efforts that lead to a halt to Belgrade's offensive against the Kosovar Albanian population and to convince President Milosevic to comply with his international commitments. But let me be clear, NATO will continue air operations until such time as President Milosevic halts his offensive and commits to a settlement based on the Rambouillet Accords."
SUPER CAPTION: James Rubin, State Department Spokesman
Meanwhile, U-S officials continue to insist that ground troops are not necessary in Kosovo.
Several experts at the Brookings Institution in Washington argue that if NATO wants to stop the humanitarian crisis, it should be considering a large, quick infusion of ground troops.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"If we are going to use ground forces -- and it is increasingly hard to see how we can meet our minimum objectives here without the use of ground forces -- it is important that we succeed. So this argues for getting in ground
forces, if we are to go this way, as large numerically as possible,
as capable as possible, as quickly as possible."
SOUNDBITE: (English)
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