CBS Evening News open - 1999-05-26

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] Attend tonight.

[0:03] >> Raising the stakes in the Balkan War.

[0:06] Yuguslav President Mallosvich is about

[0:08] to be indicted for war crimes. Hillary

[0:11] Clinton's decision on a US Senate race.

[0:13] A New York political leader gets the

[0:15] word and passes it to CBS News. Plus,

[0:18] we'll show you the dramatic ending today

[0:20] to the story of a missing hiker.

[0:25] This is the CBS Evening News

[0:29] with Dan Rather reporting from CBS News

[0:32] headquarters in New York. Good evening.

[0:35] It could be a turning point in the war

[0:37] over Kosovo. The International War

[0:38] Crimes Tribunal says it will have a

[0:41] quote important announcement tomorrow.

[0:43] US officials say it will be an

[0:45] indictment of Serbian leader Sloban

[0:47] Mallovich for the war crime of ethnic

[0:49] cleansing in Kosovo. All this comes with

[0:52] peace talks at a crucial stage with time

[0:54] running out for NATO to decide whether

[0:57] it will prepare for a possible land war.

[0:59] CBS News national security correspondent

[1:02] David Martin begins our coverage.

[1:05] >> The indictment of Mallosich as a war

[1:06] criminal may be welld deserved, but it

[1:09] is not likely to improve the chances of

[1:11] a peace agreement. If the expected

[1:13] indictment only hardens his

[1:14] determination to fight on, NATO's

[1:17] strategy of relying solely on air

[1:19] strikes to bring him to terms will be

[1:21] put to the test. And some senior US

[1:24] military leaders fear it might fail.

[1:27] Army Chief of Staff Dennis Rhymer told

[1:29] reporters today he had concerns about

[1:31] whether air power would do it by itself.

[1:34] With the bombing entering its third

[1:36] month, there is still no sign Melvich

[1:39] has called off his ethnic cleansing. And

[1:41] in fact, the estimate of the number of

[1:43] Serb troops in Kosovo has actually

[1:45] increased from 40,000 to 55,000.

[1:49] The air campaign is clearly doing

[1:51] serious damage, but senior military

[1:54] officials say it gives the initiative to

[1:56] Mallovich by letting him decide if and

[1:58] when he's had enough. Combat troops

[2:01] could drive Serb forces out of Kosovo,

[2:03] no matter what he decided.

[2:06] So far, the only ground operation NATO

[2:08] has agreed to is a 50,000man

[2:10] peacekeeping force, which would go into

[2:12] Kosovo only after Mallosvich accepts

[2:15] NATO's terms. But allied officials are

[2:18] trying to convince him the peacekeepers

[2:20] could be the vanguard of a much larger

[2:22] invasion force.

[2:24] >> This is a peace implementation force,

[2:27] but NATO has made it clear that all

[2:29] other options are on the table and will

[2:32] be carefully considered. But for now,

[2:35] Pentagon officials say the option of

[2:37] invading Kosovo remains an illusion

[2:39] since there is still strong opposition

[2:42] both within the US government and within

[2:44] NATO. David Martin, CBS News, the

[2:47] Pentagon. On the diplomatic front, US

[2:49] Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbert

[2:51] met in Moscow today with Russian envoy

[2:53] Victor Sheridan, who's due to fly to

[2:55] Belgrade tomorrow again to see

[2:57] Mallosvich. The US and Russia are trying

[2:59] to put together a set of joint demands

[3:01] to be backed by a resolution from the

[3:03] United Nations Security Council. In the

[3:06] war itself, Serb forces are making their

[3:08] big push to empty Kosovo of ethnic

[3:11] Albanians. The UN says 22,000 refugees

[3:15] have arrived in tiny Macedonia in the

[3:17] last 3 days. That's the biggest influx

[3:19] in weeks. This latest wave of ethnic

[3:21] cleansing is going ahead despite the

[3:23] heaviest NATO air raids of the war. CBS

[3:26] News war correspondent Alan Pizzy on not

[3:29] a very good audio line is our man on the

[3:32] ground inside Serbia.