Jaw-jaw
Sir: I am surprised that General Rose should complain so vehemently (Letters, 20 August) that you misreported him when you wrote (Leading article, 6 August) that his first reaction to the incident in which a British soldier was killed was `to apologise on the Serbs' behalf, explaining that the Serb soldiers were understandably "nervous" ' .
His precise words, recorded on camera and broadcast by the BBC on both televi- sion and radio, were as follows: 'I am afraid that we are in a period when there is an awful lot of uncertainty and an awful lot of nervousness on all sides and I'm afraid that this is one of those things that happen from time to time.'
General Rose's later comments were indeed much stronger; but those words do seem to have been his first reaction, as you reported. Your account was inaccurate, it now appears, in suggesting that he knew that one British soldier had been killed when he made that statement. (This, I recall, was the impression given by the BBC report at the time.) We now learn from General Rose's letter that he knew only that two British soldiers had been wounded instead, one of them so badly that he need- ed immediate hospital treatment. In other words, he knew that the lives of British sol- diers had been endangered; and yet, know- ing that, his initial comment was the one I have just quoted.
It is understandable that the full facts of the incident were not yet known when those words were spoken. A certain amount of doubt is always present in such circumstances. But many viewers must have concluded, as I certainly did when I heard the broadcast, that General Rose was giv- ing the Serbs the benefit of that doubt.
Noel Malcolm
The Daily Telegraph, 1 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London E14
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