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

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Date sent:      	Thu, 29 Apr 1999 11:21:35 -0700
To:             	ccpa@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
From:           	Sid Shniad <shniad@xxxxxx>
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.