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AP. 27 March 2002. Serbian Gov't Adopts UN Tribunal Rules. BELGRADE -- Faced with a U.S. deadline to hand over war crimes suspects, Serbia's government on Wednesday defied a high court ruling and adopted a U.N. tribunal's rules allowing such extraditions. Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica and his followers have opposed extraditions to the tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, saying they are illegal and demanding that a special domestic law be adopted to let Serbia hand over suspects. The government's defiant move comes a day after Yugoslavia's constitutional court, dominated by [so-called] Serbian nationalists, ruled that the tribunal's statute cannot be applied in Serbia. The U.S. Congress gave Yugoslavia until March 31 to cooperate with the court or risk losing $120 million in financial assistance. Acting on a similar deadline last year, the Serbian government arrested former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, who is now on trial in The Hague for atrocities his forces committed in Kosovo, Bosnia and Croatia in the 1990s. Serbian Justice Minister Vladan Batic said the Serbian government decided to adopt The Hague's statute after months of fruitless legal debates and wrangling between political factions. The government move indicates that it is ready to arrest and extradite at least some of 15 Serb war crimes suspects living in the republic and sought by The Hague. Batic said that he doesn't believe March 31 is the final deadline because the Serbian government has fulfilled two other conditions set by the United States -- releasing all ethnic Albanian prisoners from Serbian jails and severing formal ties with the Bosnian Serb military. Among the suspects sought by the tribunal are the world's top war crimes fugitives, former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and his wartime military commander, Gen. Ratko Mladic. Mladic is known to be hiding in Serbia; Karadzic's whereabouts are unknown. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barry Stoller http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProletarianNews --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
