[PEN-L:6191] (Fwd) NATO MISSILE STRIKES BULGARIAN TOWN

[ts99u-1.cc.umanitoba.ca [130.179.154.224]]

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Date sent:              Thu, 29 Apr 1999 11:21:35 -0700
To:                     [EMAIL PROTECTED]
From:                   Sid Shniad <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject:                NATO MISSILE STRIKES BULGARIAN TOWN 

The Associated Press                    Thursday, April 29, 1999

NATO MISSILE STRIKES BULGARIAN TOWN 

        Bulgaria to sue pilot for damage in response 
        to "drastic violation of airspace''

        By Veselin Zhelev

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) -- NATO acknowledged today that a missile 
fired by one of its warplanes over Yugoslavia unintentionally landed 
in Bulgaria, apparently causing no injuries. 
        Bulgarian officials earlier said a NATO plane had violated the 
country's airspace Wednesday evening and one of its missiles 
slammed into a suburb of the capital, Sofia, about 30 miles west of 
the Yugoslav border. 
        In Brussels, Belgium, NATO spokesman Jamie Shea said today 
a NATO jet fighter launched the missile ''in self defense in response 
to the threat from a surface-to-air missile'' after a Yugoslav ground 
radar had locked on to the plane. 
        He said ''the missile strayed from its target and unintentionally 
landed in Bulgaria,'' which neighbors Yugoslavia. 
        ''We understand that no civilians suffered a loss of life from 
what happened there,'' Shea said. 
        Shea said NATO Secretary General Javier Solana had talked 
with the Bulgarian ambassador to explain the incident. 
        Three NATO missiles have already struck Bulgaria's territory 
during the air campaign against neighboring Yugoslavia, and 
alliance planes have previously violated Bulgarian airspace. 
        Bulgarian air force officials identified the missile as laser-guided 
anti-radar AGM-88 Harm. They said it is usually carried by F-16 jet 
fighters. 
        In a meeting with U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Henry Kievenaar, a 
Defense Department official, Bulgarian President Petar Stoyanov 
expressed ''great concern'' about the incident. 
        Kievenaar said, ''I just want to express our deep regret on the 
missile incident.'' 
        Interior Minister Bogomil Bonev said Bulgaria would sue the 
pilot for material and moral damage caused to the house owners. 
        ''There hasn't been such a drastic violation of our airspace so 
far,'' Bonev said. 
        Stoyanov and Foreign Minister Nadezhda Mihailova urged 
NATO to supply Bulgaria with sophisticated radar equipment that 
can identify planes. They said Bulgaria would mark its western 
border with lights for better orientation of allied fliers.
        Despite the incident, the government will propose to parliament 
to provide NATO with a 70- to 90-mile air corridor along 
Bulgaria's western border, Bonev said. 
        The public is divided between desires to join NATO and the 
European Union and sympathy for fellow Slavs and Christian 
Orthodox Serbs in Yugoslavia.