From: "mart" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [pttp] Fw: Milosevic Denounces NATO's Criminal Aggression Criminal Aggression --------------------------- He said that in the air campaign over 78 days and nights, between March 24 and the beginning of June 1999, some 22,000 tons of bombs were dropped on Kosovo and many people were killed. "It was of course an aggression by Yugoslavia against itself," he said mockingly. Milosevic Accuses NATO of Aggression THE HAGUE, Oct 30, 2001 -- (dpa) Former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic on Tuesday accused the NATO Western defense alliance of staging a "criminal aggression" against his country. He made the accusation at his third pre-trial hearing during which the starting date for his trial on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity was set for February 12 next year. In court Milosevic described as "a farce" the charges of war crimes relating to Kosovo and accused the North Atlantic Treaty Organization of "criminal aggression". He also blasted the United Nations tribunal as "illegal", describing it as part of the machinery to "commit crimes against my country and my people". The Kosovo accusations were an example of the court's partiality, Milosevic said, adding that NATO had not been accused over its bombing campaign in Kosovo. He said that in the air campaign over 78 days and nights, between March 24 and the beginning of June 1999, some 22,000 tons of bombs were dropped on Kosovo and many people were killed. "It was of course an aggression by Yugoslavia against itself," he said mockingly. Milosevic also said that his trial would have implications for terrorism in Kosovo, saying: "Unlike the previous administration, this one has proclaimed war on terrorism." He said the U.S. administration under Bill Clinton knew terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden was in Albania two years after the American embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam were attacked in August 1998. "They discussed this fact with me," he said. He continued: "A warning I wish to make is that this trial has direct implications on inciting terrorism in southern Serbia. In the past few days and months, the Albanian terrorists in southern Serbia have been slaughtering, killing, plundering, burning and doing everything as they did it before." Milosevic described the charges against him were "a farce" at the level of a "retarded seven-year-old child". He asked the tribunal to announce "the judgments you have been instructed to read out" and added: "Don't make me listen for hours on end to texts which are at the intellectual level of a seven-year-old child." Milosevic's trial is expected to last for at least three years and will begin by dealing with events in Kosovo. Prosecutors estimate they will need 170 days to present their accusations on Kosovo. Chief Prosecutor Carla del Ponte said she was planning to call 228 witnesses and present some 500 documents. To outline her accusations in the Croatian case, she will need another 170 days and 255 witnesses. If the court accepts prosecution charges relating to the Bosnian war, the prosecution will need another 170 days, or just under, to present its case. On hearing del Ponte's estimates, Judge Patrick Robinson said the trial was likely to last at least three years. At a later stage in the hearing Milosevic assured the tribunal that he would never commit suicide. "I would never want to do that to my family and my children," he said. In reaction to a judge's question about any personal requests he might have on his conditions in custody, Milosevic called on the tribunal to remove surveillance cameras from his cell. He said he had been told the cameras were there to stop him committing suicide. But he told the court there was another reason he would not take his own life. He said he had "to struggle against this tribunal and this farce of a trial and the masterminds who are using it against the people who are fighting for freedom in the world". The former Serbian strongman also protested against the presence of guards during family visits. He was not claiming any privileges, he said, but saw such practices as discriminatory. (C)2001. dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur _________________________________________________ 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] _______________
