| Serbs search for old US bomb at Chinese embassy 17 Jun 2004 17:09:42 GMT |
The experts said it would take about a month to deactivate the 2,000 lb (900 kg) bomb -- one of four that U.S. planes fired at the embassy in Belgrade on May 7, 1999 -- when it was found.
The other three bombs exploded, killing three Chinese journalists, wrecking part of the building and sparking furious protests in Beijing.
NATO called it a tragic mistake due to poor intelligence and said the U.S. military believed it had been directing the aircraft to bomb a Serbian military supply centre.
But the military had used out-of-date maps that failed to show the embassy, although it was clearly marked on ordinary tourist maps of the Yugoslav capital.
The embassy, which had a distinctive Chinese-style roof in green tiles, looks reasonably intact from the front but is shattered on the inside.
Empty since 1999, the building is still guarded and flies the red Chinese flag.
NATO bombed targets in Serbia and Montenegro for 78 days in 1999 to force then President Slobodan Milosevic to withdraw his troops and police from Kosovo and end persecution of the province's ethnic Albanian majority.
The Belgrade attack was carried out with state-of-the-art JDAM (Joint Direct Attack Munition) bombs guided by global positioning satellite systems.
The experts said there was no danger to the public from the bomb.
"The public has no reason to worry," said Martin Martinovic, a member of the bomb disposal team.
AlertNet Jun 17 2004 6:04PM GMT
[Moreover - Balkans news]
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