[Via Communist Internet... http://www.egroups.com/group/Communist-Internet ] . . ----- Original Message ----- From: Miroslav Antic <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: NATO <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; NSP <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Sorabia@Yahoogroups. Com <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; News <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; SNN <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; BALKAN <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; YAHOO <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: Sin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, June 30, 2001 3:09 PM Subject: Extradition Causes Rift In Belgrade [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK] STOP NATO: NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- ListBot Sponsor -------------------------- Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com/links/joinlb ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Extradition Causes Rift In Belgrade Cabinet Members Quit in Protest _____Special Report_____ Milosevic on Trial Full Post coverage of Milosevic's fall from power and the efforts to try him in the Hague. _____Multimedia_____ Post reporter R. Jeffrey Smith reports from Belgrade about Milosevic's handover to the Hague _____Post Editorial_____ The Yugoslav Model (6/28/01) _____Indictment_____ Excerpts: Major Charges Against Milosevic Full Text: Indictment Against Milosevic _____Timeline_____ Chronology of Milosevic A look at his rule in Yugoslavia and efforts to try him in the Hague. E-Mail This Article Printer-Friendly Version Subscribe to The Post By R. Jeffrey Smith Washington Post Foreign Service Saturday, June 30, 2001; Page A01 BELGRADE, June 29 -- Yugoslavia's prime minister and five other top federal officials quit today to protest former president Slobodan Milosevic's abrupt extradition to face U.N. war crimes charges. The resignations forced the dissolution of the cabinet and threatened to alter the direction and pace of political reforms in the post-Milosevic era. But Western governments signaled their enthusiastic approval of the Thursday night transfer of Milosevic, quickly pledging more than $1.28 billion in reconstruction aid during a meeting in Brussels today. That was slightly more than Yugoslavia had requested. All over Yugoslavia today, the gloves came off as the public and political leaders began to digest the rapid-fire sequence of the extradition, carried out by the government of Serbia, Yugoslavia's largest republic, in defiance of a federal court order putting the extradition on hold. Thousands of Milosevic supporters rallied for a second night to protest, parading in front of parliament with pictures of the man who had ruled the country's communist party and government for more than a decade before being ousted from office by a lost election and popular uprising last October. Demonstrators beat several journalists. Yugoslav Prime Minister Zoran Zizic, explaining his decision to quit, called the extradition a "humiliation" and an assault on Yugoslav dignity. Critics saw the transfer as a surrender to Western governments' demand for Milosevic in return for aid. The resignation of Zizic, a member of a party based in Montenegro, Yugoslavia's other republic, severs an important tie between the country's two political units. Montenegro has flirted with declaring independence, a move Western officials oppose as likely to foster other secessionist movements in the Balkans. At the same time, the tumult has widened divisions in the 18-party Democratic Opposition of Serbia coalition that forced Milosevic from power and took control of the government. Today, factions were sniping at each other, raising doubts as to how long the diverse group can stay together. Officials said it is unclear whether a new coalition will emerge from political negotiations or whether the government will have to call new federal elections this year. Serbian officials said the extradition plan was approved at a closed meeting of Serbian government leaders that lasted 15 minutes and that its backers took various measures to counter possible interference by security forces loyal to Milosevic -- including delaying an official announcement until the helicopter carrying the former president had left Yugoslav airspace. Whatever the price in domestic political accord, the extradition appeared to reap immediate financial gains. Donor countries and organizations meeting in Brussels just hours after Milosevic reached The Hague pledged $1.28 billion in aid to the country. That exceeded the $1.25 billion that the European Commission and World Bank had said was needed this year to begin repairing an economy devastated by isolation, misrule and NATO's 1999 bombing campaign. The Bush administration, which had threatened to boycott the meeting if it felt that insufficient progress was being made on the extradition, pledged $181.6 million to the effort. Milosevic's transfer in particular heightened old tensions between the two key figures of Yugoslavia's new political order, President Vojislav Kostunica and Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic. Kostunica, a popular nationalist, often favors caution and strict adherence to law. Thursday he quickly condemned the extradition as illegal and complained he hadn't been told about it. In private, he has characterized Djindjic as an aggressive opportunist. Djindjic is an energetic, strongly pro-Western politician with fairly low popularity ratings. He engineered the extradition and contends that there was no choice but to send Milosevic out promptly. He has said that Kostunica was informed in general terms of the plan. A senior member of Djindjic's coalition complained recently that Kostunica "doesn't understand the world and is afraid of it." Today, the two men's camps resumed the battle, accusing each other of underhanded tactics in the hours leading up to Milosevic's departure. Officials close to Djindjic accused Kostunica's side of planting false media reports in recent days about multiple arrests of Serbs indicted for war crimes in order to stoke nationalist tensions that would undermine Djindjic. Djindjic's allies privately accused officials in Kostunica's political party of trying to persuade the nation's Constitutional Court, which met in special session, to rule against extradition. They acknowledged that they made their own efforts to manipulate the decision, going so far as to urge one of the justices to go on vacation at the seashore in Montenegro and thereby rob the court of its quorum. Milosevic was arrested in April and imprisoned in a Belgrade jail, charged with corruption and abuse of power under Yugoslav law. According to sources in Belgrade, he had recently had difficulty confronting the reality of his situation, veering between depression and defiance. At one point he despondently told a visiting court official that "no one can help me" and at another used profanity to describe Yugoslav officials who would "turn him in" to the tribunal. "I don't care" what they do, Milosevic is said to have boasted to visitors three days ago. "In two years, they will all be here," a reference to his prison. These words today evoked laughter among some officials of the Serbian government who helped plan and carry out the extradition. They exulted in what one called the Serbian state security force's "elegant" implementation of a secret plan. In recent weeks, Kostunica, a constitutional lawyer, had come around to the need to extradite Milosevic but insisted that a law be passed authorizing it. When parliament declined to do so, the cabinet last weekend passed a decree. Milosevic's lawyer appealed the decree to the Constitutional Court. With the court, packed with Milosevic-era appointees, poised to rule against the decree and Western pressures growing to authorize at least one extradition before today's donor conference, Djindjic called a meeting Wednesday night of the leaders of all 18 parties in last year's uprising to decide what to do. Serbian Vice President Momcilo Perisic said the group considered three main options, including ratifying the decree in the Serbian parliament. But they decided that further delay would give Milosevic's supporters and other opponents of extradition time to rally public opinion. No official from Kostunica's party attended the meeting, and the participants decided to extradite Milosevic even if the Constitutional Court tried to block the decree. The next day, Djindjic and 14 other Serbian ministers convened a meeting at 4 p.m. in the main Serbian government building. Djindjic spoke briefly, urging adoption of a decree authorizing extraditions to The Hague, which he draped in legalisms. The decree never mentioned Milosevic by name. A representative of Kostunica's party objected to the decree. But he was outvoted 14 to 1, according to accounts of the meeting. State security agents were dispatched to pick up Milosevic at the prison at 6 p.m. Initially, he rebuked them; but then he insisted on collecting and bringing with him all the possessions in his cell, several officials said. He was driven to a secret location in downtown Belgrade, where a police helicopter waited. Before boarding, Milosevic was forced to listen while a tribunal official read its 1999 indictment of him, a document that had been delivered to Milosevic in prison but was never opened by him. The helicopter then took off. 2001 The Washington Post Company Miroslav Antic, http://www.antic.org/ ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
