A Blackburn Rovers fan in Serbia has told of the horror of living in a war zone under the threat of nightly NATO air attacks.

Jelena Pasic, 29, lives in the capital city Belgrade, which has been targeted by bombers in recent weeks.

She has been receiving support from Rovers fans around the world via the internet and despite the war, still dreams of seeing the team play live.

Jelena lives in downtown Belgrade, in a house built in 1931 which has no air raid shelter.

In an e-mail to the Lancashire Evening Telegraph she said she could not believe that there was war in Europe at the end of the 20th century.

"I had a good life before this war. I was a happy young person. I travelled a lot: I always thought, and I still think, that my cities are too London, Paris, Madrid, Rome, Venice, New York etc," she said.

"My parents taught me that my country is Yugoslavia but all the world is my country too. My life was good and I want it back."

Jelena is a Serb language professor and works as a theatre writer for a newspaper, as well as writing short stories for a radio station. She is currently writing a war diary. Her twin brother is a cameraman for an independent television station. She was born in the town of Novi Sad, which has been more heavily bombed than any other Serbian town and still has family there.

But she has been unable to go back to see them because two bridges across the Danube have been destroyed.

And she said she had not been able to sleep normally since the bombing started.

She said: "I am angry because I am weak. I know that I must stay calm and strong and reasonable, but sometimes I think that I just can't stand it any more.

"I 'sleep' all dressed, with shoes on and with a Walkman on my ears. I am so tired.

"During the day, Belgrade lives: the theatres and cinemas in downtown are open. Many people are on the streets. I visit my friends and pretend to myself that this is only a nightmare. But, when I hear air sirens, I conceive that this war is real. There are no tears any more on my face. Only sadness. I am lucky because I have many friends from all over the world and they help me to survive this true horror movie.

"I can't judge who is 'right' and who is 'wrong' but I can only say that me, my family, my people and Albanians, too, are innocent. I still believe, I have hope that agreement must win." Jelena has been a Rovers fan since 1987, when she met a man with a Blackburn Rovers tattoo in Dubrovnik, Croatia.

She said: "I was fascinated. He told me a lot about Blackburn and about Rovers and then I decided to support Rovers. We do not have English football on TV, but he sent me match reports and many articles about Rovers.

"This year I'll be 30 and I have promised to myself that I will see Blackburn Rovers live - that will be my present for my birthday."

She keeps in touch with other Rovers fans via the internet and has discovered that there are actually 16 Rovers fans in Belgrade.

She said: "During this war, I have received many e-mails, with kind wishes, from Blackburn Rovers supporters from all over the world and that has given me strength to survive."

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