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AP. 4 December 2001. CIA Officer Sues Over Bombing. WASHINGTON -- A CIA operative claims in a lawsuit that the U.S. bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade in 1999 could have been avoided if his boss had checked sources with firsthand knowledge of the Yugoslav capital. The operative is a 46-year-old of Russian origin identified in the lawsuit only by the pseudonym "Mitford." A statement from his lawyers says he was among mid- and lower-ranking agency employees "falsely blamed" for the mistaken bombing, which left three Chinese journalists dead. The United States called the May 7, 1999, attack a mistake caused by faulty intelligence and use of outdated maps. The CIA says it fired one official and disciplined six others, none of whom were identified. The United States repeatedly apologized for the attack, paid the Chinese government $28 million in compensation and promised $4.5 million to those injured and families of three journalists killed in the bombing in the Yugoslav capital. The lawsuit was filed in 1999 in U.S. District Court in Washington. The operative's claims about the targeting error during NATO's air war against Yugoslavia were included in a newly amended version released this week. Mitford's boss, who also is not identified, received a verbal reprimand before being promoted to a position with the National Security Council, the lawsuit says. It says "Mitford" received harsher treatment than those who had more direct responsibility for the incident. The CIA officer's claim was in a newly released, unclassified version of a wide-ranging lawsuit by 15 current and former CIA employees. The employees, all unidentified, accuse the agency of misconduct in a variety of areas. Many allege that the agency used secrecy rules to prevent them from pursuing labor and discrimination grievances or working with attorneys. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barry Stoller http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProletarianNews ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9WB2D Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
