Letter from Belgrade

I am Ivan Pavlovic, Secretary for Information of the League of 
Yugoslavian Communist Youth. I am writing this letter in the pause between 
NATO's barbarous attack. People are ready to fight until victory. It is the 
price for freedom.

According to our sources, NATO planes made a lot of misses, especially 
their attacks on airfields. The village of Batajnica sustained heavy 
destruction.

NATO was not able to crush Yugoslavia's air defence in the past days. Our 
air defence is consolidated and the first result was the shooting down of 
an F-117 "night falcon" stealth fighter-bomber. The pilot was captured in 
Centa, north of Belgrade, by angry peasants but was rescued by our police 
force which saved his life. Three more planes were shot down yesterday.

During the night the attacks on Belgrade were carried out by B-2 bombers 
from a high altitude which limited their attack potential.

The southern suburbs of the city were targetted — both military and 
civilian targets. One rocket fuel dump was destroyed in the nearby village 
of Sremci which caused a danger from a chemical spill. In this situation, 
people stayed very calm. I was in a shelter at that time and was surprised 
by the calm and firm reaction.

About 10 schools have been hit and the city hospital in Nis, 200kms south 
of Belgrade.

A most important thing is that not only Serbs, but Gypsies, Turks, 
Hungarians, Slovaks and others have decided to defend Yugoslavia. We are 
ready for a long war if it is necessary. NO PASARAN! (The anti-fascist 
slogan of the Spanish civil war in the 1930s).

The attack on Yugoslavia is an attack on the international system of 
security established after World War II. It is brutal aggression on a 
sovereign state which has not attacked any of its neighbours.

The workers of the Zastava car and gun factory in Kragujevac, 170 kms south 
of Belgrade, decided to stay and work in the factory all the time. They 
have sent a message to all NATO governments and they warned them that an 
attack on the factory will bring vast devastation and a huge number of 
civilian casualties.

We are asking all communist and progressive organisations to increase 
pressure on NATO governments. Please join any demonstrations against NATO 
that are organised in your town. If there are no demonstrations yet, please 
organise one by yourself.

Yugoslavia is on the same frontline with you.

Please distribute this message to everybody you know. We cannot keep our 
mouth shut. We have the opportunity to achieve the first victory of the 
people against NATO.

Solidarity with the Zastrava workers!
Join the world solidarity with Yugoslavia!
Neither surrender nor defeat!
Know your enemy. Rage against the NATO machine!
Stop Adolph Clinton Now!
Please do anything you can to oppose this brutality.
With masses, with armaments, liberation or death!
Belgrade, Saturday, March 27