Explosive equal to four Hiroshima bombs on Yugoslavia

A ministry statement quoted Minister Milan Komnenic as saying that the destructive power of NATO's bombs dropped on Yugoslavia so far is four times that of the atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

NATO planes are using missiles with depleted uranium and cluster bombs banned under the Geneva Convention, and sprinkling arable land and fields with chemicals so as to cripple the crops, Komnenic said.

Consequences for the health of the people can be disastrous, while the overall psychological condition of the people after three weeks of incessant air strikes defies description, he added.

He said that the war has cancelled the United Nations, the Security Council, the fundamental postulates of international law and all ethical principles on which the international community is based.

He stressed that Yugoslavia is prepared to revive the negotiating process, and that diplomatic initiatives are the only way to restore stability and peace to the Balkans.