El lugar del encuentro entre Jackson y los militares serbios ha sido cambiado. El inicialmente elegido se situaba en algún punto de Kosovo, pero por medidas de seguridad los serbios pidieron que fuese cambiado a última hora, y se están manteniendo desde las 13:00 horas en un punto fronterizo de Macedonia. Este es el motivo por el cual se ha producido el retraso en el inicio de las conversaciones. El general británico Mike Jackson ha advertido que las fuerzas aliadas situadas en Macedonia están preparadas para intervenir en cualquier momento, si se les da la orden.
En cualquier caso, los ataques aliados continúan produciéndose sobre terreno yugoeslavo, aunque con menos intensidad que en las jornadas anteriores. Fuentes oficiales de la NATO han comunicado esta mañana a
A continuaci¢n, adjuntamos el texto ¡ntegro del comunicado oficial de la NATO, en ingl’s: Saturday 05 June, 1999
09.30 CET
OPERATION ALLIED FORCE UPDATE
On day 73 of Operation Allied Force attacks against Serb forces continued. Meanwhile, preparations for Operation Joint Guardian, the peace implementation mission for Kosovo, accelerated.
General Sir Mike Jackson, Commander of the Allied Command Europe Rapid Reaction Corps based at Skopje in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, yesterday placed his headquarters on 24 hours notice to move. All NATO nations which offered forces at the enhanced-KFOR Force Generation Conference on 2nd June have now re-confirmed their offers to SHAPE.
Some nations have also reduced the notice to move of force elements which they plan to deploy with KFOR, and are accelerating preparations to deploy their forces forward to the theatre. The FYROM government has also agreed to increase the ceiling for NATO forces based in Macedonia whilst preparing to move into Kosovo.
General Jackson is heading a team which is meeting Serb military leaders at a border crossing between Macedonia and Kosovo. General Jackson will detail NATO’s plans for the withdrawal of Serb forces from Kosovo, and is expected to finalise military modalities for the entry of the peace implementation force KFOR.
Yesterday, as part of Operation Allied Force, NATO aircraft struck 30 artillery pieces, five mortar positions, nine tanks, 21 armoured personnel carriers, revetted positions and other military vehicles in Kosovo.
Other facilities that support Serb forces in Kosovo responsible for the ethnic cleansing were attacked, including:
Ammunition storage sites at:
o Gnjilane
o Urosevac
o Vrdnik
A command post at Pristina
A storage depot at Uzice
A radio relay station at Invanijca.
NATO yesterday flew 536 sorties, including 113 strike and 69 suppression of air defence missions. All NATO aircraft returned safely. Operations on day 74 are underway. Further details will be provided at the NATO morning update at 1030.
