USA: CIA DIRECTOR TESTIFYS OVER BOMBING OF CHINESE BELGRADE EMBASSY

(22 Jul 1999) English/Nat
The C-I-A has revealed it had accurate maps and some agency employees knew the correct location of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade mistakenly bombed in May during NATO's air campaign against Yugoslavia.
The C-I-A Director George Tenet made the announcement on Thursday while testifying before the House Intelligence Committee in Washington D-C.
But the agency did not rely on those sources before recommending the allies attack a supposed military target that was in fact the embassy.
On Thursday new new detail was added to a mistake that shook Sino-American relations.
The nation's spy chief and the Pentagon's Number 2 official told a House Intelligence Committee in Washington, D-C about the errors that led a B-2 bomber to attack the Chinese embassy compound in Belgrade around midnight on May 7th.
Back in May, politicians had requested a hearing into the attack that killed three Chinese journalists.
It came during NATO's 78-days of airstrikes to force Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to halt his campaign against ethnic Albanians in the province of Kosovo.
The hearing has been delayed so that the C-I-A and Pentagon could complete internal investigations into the accident.
Speaking before the House Committee more than two months after the mishap, C-I-A Director George Tenet reiterated what administration officials have claimed all along.
Mistaken location of that headquarters, combined with outdated maps and databases, led to the accidental bombing.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"The attack was a mistake. Let me emphasise our investigation has determined that no one, and I repeat, no one knowingly targeted the Chinese Embassy. Speculation to the contrary is simply unfounded. No one at any stage in the process realised that our bombs were aimed at the Chinese Embassy."
SUPER CAPTION: George Tenet, CIA Director
NATO was attempting to bomb the Yugoslav Federal Directorate for Supply and Procurement (F-D-S-B) in the new section of Belgrade.
The actual directorate of headquarters turned out to be about 300 yards away.
The C-I-A's target planners had a correct address for the directorate but mislocated on street maps and satellite imagery of Belgrade.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"Some of our employees knew the location of the Chinese Embassy. But keep in mind that we were not looking for it. None of these individuals was consulted as the target was selected and reviewed, and as a result, we lost the opportunity to learn that the building targeted was not the F-D-S-B headquarters. We have also found one report from 1997 that gave the correct address of the Chinese Embassy, but that information was ancillary to the focus of the report, and unfortunately the address was not entered into the database."
SUPER CAPTION: George Tenet, CIA Director
Tenet's testimony marks the first time the C-I-A has publicly acknowledged that it had maps and employees that could have told target planners of the correct location of the Chinese Embassy.
Tenet acknowledged that while none of those employees were involved in the targeting, had the C-I-A consulted them for accurate maps, the accident may not have happened.
Also testifying before the committee was Deputy Defence Secretary John Hamre.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
SUPER CAPTION:John Hamre, Deputy Defense Secretary
He added the Pentagon's process of developing "no strike" lists - to include schools, hospitals and embassies - is clearly flawed.
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