THE report in the Bury Times (April 1) that Bury footballer Kemajl Avdiu, who is from Yugoslavia, supports the bombing of his country is in sharp contrast to the attitude taken by a number of other players from Yugoslavia.

Vladan Lukic, who plays for the French club Metz, has said: "What they are doing to my country is a scandal, so I am off. I am quitting Metz to return to Yugoslavia."

Ivan Vukumanovic, who also plays in France for Bordeaux, said: "I am a patriot and consider my place is here in Yugoslavia."

Crystal Palace player Sasa Curcic made his protest by parading around the pitch with a placard that read "Stop NATO Bombing". Other Yugoslav players have played wearing black arm-bands as a sign of protest.

All over the world people are protesting at the murderous onslaught being waged against the Republic of Yugoslavia. The press and TV report tens of thousands of refugees, fleeing terror. What they don't say is that the terror they are escaping from is being rained down on them by B52s and Stealth bombers.

Despite the fact that Kosovo has been part of historic Serbia for more than a thousand years, they arrogantly talk of the partitioning of Kosovo and the setting up of a separate state of Kosovo.

What is abundantly clear is that the original stated aim of the war, to help the Kosovan Albanians, has only succeeded in bringing terrible suffering to all the people of Yugoslavia. The relentless air attacks have benefited no one, except of course the arms manufacturers.

One thing is certain, NATO's war has nothing to do with humanitarian concerns. If that were the case the long-standing suffering of the Palestinians would be of concern: the treatment of the Kurds in Turkey would be of concern.

Finally, Article One of the North Atlantic Treaty, the founding document of NATO, declares: "The parties undertake . . . to settle international disputes . . . by peaceful means, in such a manner that international peace and security and justice are not endangered, and to refrain . . . from the threat or use of force".

P. KAISERMAN

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.