STOP NATO: �NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- ListBot Sponsor -------------------------- Get a low APR NextCard Visa in 30 seconds! 1. Fill in the brief application 2. Receive approval decision within 30 seconds 3. Get rates as low as 2.99% Intro or 9.99% Ongoing APR and no annual fee! Apply NOW! http://www.bcentral.com/listbot/NextCard ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Top Yugoslav judge in Milosevic case quits BELGRADE, June 28 (Reuters) - The head of Yugoslavia's Constitutional Court submitted his resignation on Thursday just before the court began discussing moves to hand over Slobodan Milosevic to the U.N. war crimes tribunal. "I think it is for the best that I do not participate in the work (of the court) and I will not vote (on the issue before the court)," court president Milutin Srdic said at an open session of the body. It was not immediately clear if the resignation of Srdic, appointed when Milosevic was still in power, would have a direct outcome on the court's meeting on the high-profile case, which could determine the fate of the former president. His resignation left four judges in the Constitutional Court, which started meeting around noon (1000 GMT) to discuss a controversial government decree paving the way for handing over war crimes suspects like Milosevic to the Dutch-based tribunal. The court has the power to strike down the decree passed by reformist ministers setting out procedures for cooperating with the tribunal or it can decide simply to suspend the measure until it reaches a decision on its validity. But some reformers argue the court should be ignored as many of its officials are partisan appointees hand-picked by Milosevic, whose authoritarian rule of Serbia and Yugoslavia ended last October when he was ousted in a mass uprising. They have also said the government decree is unnecessary, arguing Yugoslavia is already obliged to cooperate fully with the tribunal under international law. Milosevic's lawyers argue handing the former Yugoslav president over to the tribunal would violate a constitutional ban on extraditing Yugoslav citizens. But backers of the measure counter by saying handing a suspect over to the tribunal does not amount to an extradition as it is a U.N. institution, not a foreign state. The meeting of the Constitutional Court came a day after the United States rewarded Belgrade's efforts so far in cooperating with the tribunal by saying it would attend a donors' meeting on Friday. 06:53 06-28-01 ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
