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Yugosalv Army Chief Denies Milosevic Ordered Ethnic Cleansing |
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BELGRADE, May 23, 2002 -- Yugoslavia’s army chief has denied Slobodan Milosevic ever issued an order for ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. The former Yugoslav president “did not issue orders to anyone to launch ethnic cleansing operations,” General Nebojsa Pavkovic told Belgrade weekly Blic News. Pavkovic headed Yugoslav army operations in Kosovo during the conflict in 1999. He has not been indicted by the UN war crimes tribunal in the Hague. In the interview with Blic News, the general denied accusations made by the prosecution’s so-called insider witness, Ratomir Tanic. Tanic, a former political advisor in Belgrade, claimed to have heard Milosevic order a crackdown on Kosovo's ethnic Albanian population in a bid to reduce their numbers. The witness told the court that in 1997 Pavkovic had been part of a clandestine army chain of command, headed by Milosevic and established without the knowledge of the then chief of staff. Pavkovic again denied this, insisting “all competencies of all members of the hierarchy, from the Supreme Defence Council to the very last soldier are strictly defined.” © Radio B92, 2002. Distributed in partnership with Globalvision News Network (www.gvnews.net). All rights reserved. |
