Kosovo bombing victims sue Germany

BERLIN, Germany -- Victims of a NATO bombing raid during the 1999 Kosovo war are seeking $3.6 million compensation, their lawyer said on Thursday.

Ulrich Dost said those who had been wounded and relatives who lost family members in the bridge attack are looking for damages from the German government.

The lawsuit has been filed against Germany as it is a member of the 19-nation NATO, even though its planes were not used in the attack on Varvarin on May 30, 1999.

The families say the attack was deliberately directed against civilians and violated the Geneva Conventions.

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Ten people were killed and more than 30 injured, 17 of them seriously, in the strikes which were part of the 78-day bombing campaign that forced the end of a crackdown on ethnic Albanians by then Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.

NATO officials insisted at the time that the bridge was a legitimate military target and denied targeting civilians.

Dost said on Thursday: "The goal of the suit is to investigate and ascertain whether NATO countries broke the rules of war and to get help for the victims."

Vesna Milenkovic, whose 15-year-old daughter Sanja was killed in the attack, said the suit was about more than financial compensation.

"We hope the suit will fulfill all our expectations -- determining responsibility and the bringing of justice."

The relatives are seeking about 100,000 euros ($90,000) compensation for each person wounded and relatives of those killed, he added.

When the suit was filed on December 24, the German Defence Ministry said the military campaign had complied with the Geneva Conventions, and added that international law does not allow for individual victims or their relatives to claim compensation from warring parties.