Chinese Embassy Attack Was CIA Error

THE CHINESE embassy in Belgrade that was erroneously bombed during Nato's Kosovo operation was the only target of the conflict that was nominated by the Central Intelligence Service, it was revealed yesterday. Testifying before Congress about the most diplomatically costly mistake of the war, the head of the CIA, George Tenet, said that the building was thought to house a Yugoslav arms agency.

The error was ascribed to a failure in updating by the Pentagon's mapping agency. However, Mr Tenet said that up-to-date maps had later been found at the CIA, but were not consulted by the military planners. Nominating a target and planning to strike it, he said, were two different processes, and the CIA was not involved in the second. Even if it had been, there is no guarantee the target would have been correctly identified. Mr Tenet said the CIA also had maps showing the Chinese embassy in its old location.