Castro says ex-Spanish prime minister Aznar urged bombing of Serbian media

Yahoo! News.

By The Associated Press, Sep 30.

HAVANA - Fidel Castro on Sunday accused former Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar of urging Washington to bomb Serbian radio and television stations during NATO's participation in the war in Kosovo.

In a column published by official newspapers, Castro quoted extensive excerpts from what he implied was a transcript of a 1999 conversation between Aznar and U.S. president Bill Clinton.

Aznar was quoted as telling Clinton, "If we're at war, let's make it an all-out war ... I don't understand why we have not yet bombed Serbian radio and television."

Castro did not say how he obtained the transcript. The version he published contained only Aznar's comments, none by the person he was speaking to. But he said he had "other materials, both public and confidential," which he would use in future essays.

Castro said he first made the accusation - with far less detail - in a Cuban television appearance four years ago. At the time, Cuba was angered by Spanish criticism of its human rights record.

Sunday's essay, titled "Aznar's Silence" said that U.S. and Spanish authorities have refused to comment on the accusation and he challenged Aznar once again to confirm the remarks.

In the transcript, Aznar was quoted as mulling a ground war if NATO bombing campaigns didn't succeed, and saying, "All of Serbia's lines of communication, its radio, television and phones, must be put out."

"I ask Mr. Aznar to say if it's true or not that he advised president Clinton on April 13, 1999 to bomb Serbian radio and television," Castro wrote Sunday.

It was the second time in the month that an alleged version of Aznar's conversations with U.S. leaders was published. The Spanish newspaper El Pais carried a transcript in which U.S. President George W. Bush was quoted as telling Aznar he planned to invade Iraq with or without UN approval. Castro quoted lengthy portions of that story in an essay published here Friday.

Under the conservative Aznar, Spain helped prompt a decision by the European Union to impose sanctions on Cuba in 2003, after island authorities detained 75 dissidents accused of working with the United States to undermine Castro's government.