sipila
Thu, 22 Mar 2001 20:35:57 -0800
From: "Serbian News Network" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Milosevic urges Yugoslav government to act against 'Albanian terrorists' The Associated Press 3/22/01 7:41 PM JERUSALEM (AP) -- Ex-Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, speaking in a rare interview, urged Yugoslavia's current leadership to crack down on ethnic "Albanian terrorists" involved in the latest bloodletting in the Balkans. Milosevic, speaking to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, also said he had been vilified by former President Clinton and would resist efforts to extradite him to U.N. war crimes tribunal, where he has been indicted for alleged atrocities committed against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo in 1998-99. The United States has imposed a March 31 deadline for Yugoslavia to comply with the tribunal's demands or face a cut in aid. President Vojislav Kostunica, who defeated Milosevic in an election last fall, should act quickly against the Albanians, who have rebelled in southern Serbia along the border with Kosovo and are also fighting inside Macedonia, Milosevic said in the interview published Thursday. But, "given the prevailing circumstances and the Albanians' ability to buy time, I don't know how they'll be stopped," Milosevic added. Milosevic has lived under police surveillance since he was ousted from power in October. Some Serbs have called for his prosecution at home for alleged crimes during his rule, while the Americans and their NATO allies have sought his extradition to the tribunal at the Hague, in the Netherlands. Kostunica, along with other Yugoslavs, have expressed doubts about the objectivity and impartiality of the tribunal, which deals with atrocities committed by former Yugoslavia's ethnic groups. Milosevic blamed his international ostracism on Clinton, saying his administration also had encouraged, rather than restrained, ethnic Albanian militants, including those now fighting inside Macedonia. "I sincerely hope that the new U.S. government will disclose the truth about the reluctance of the previous (American) government to broach the subject of Albanian terrorism and violence," Milosevic said. Milosevic, who presided over four losing wars as the former Yugoslavia imploded during the 1990s, denounced $5 million bounty the Americans have offered for his arrest. "My attitude on the bounty, is similar, I hope, to that of most normal people," Milosevic said. "It is one of the least ethical actions you can take in a civil society. Extortion is one of the most hated words in the language of man." Copyright 2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. http://www.nj.com/newsflash/index.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?a0829_BC_Yu goslovia-MilosevicI&&news&newsflash-international Miroslav Antic, http://www.antic.org/SNN/ _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________