SOFIA -- Tuesday – The United States justified the 1999 bombing of Yugoslavia with false claims of genocide being committed in Kosovo, an OSCE official and participant in peace talks during the war in the province said in comments published today.

Bo Pellnas, a member of the OSCE mission in Belgrade, said there were some 1,200 OSCE observers in Kosovo who could confirm genocide did not take place, reports Sofia daily Monitor.

Pellnas said he was certain the US had assisted secessionist guerrillas in the province since 1998, and saw them as a future ally in a ground assault on Belgrade. He said that former US president Bill Clinton had imposed his policy on the international community for dealing with Belgrade and Kosovo.