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| Viewing file: Select action/file-type: <a name="newsitem965029297,46865,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>The Independent : We have the heart for battle, says Montenegrin trained by SAS </center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000">By Phil Rees in Podgorica <br><br><br>30 July 2000 <br><br>An officer from Montenegro's Special Police, the Spezijalni, has described the role of the SAS in training the force. Tensions between Montenegro and Serbia – the last republics remaining in the Yugoslav federation – are likely to be stretched even nearer to breaking point by the revelations. <br><br>The 15,000-strong force will be the front line of defence if the Yugoslav president, Slobodan Milosevic, attempts to oust the separatist Montenegrin president, Milo Djukanovic, and replace him with a leader loyal to the union with Serbia. <br><br>The presence in Montenegro of the Seventh Battalion of the Yugoslav army, which has been busy recruiting there, raises the prospect of a bitter fratricidal war on Montenegrin soil between the pro- and anti-Milosevic camps. <br><br>Sparked by Mr Djukanovic's increasing threats to break away, the Seventh Battalion keeps an ever-watchful eye on its Montenegrin counterparts. But British involvement in the republic, in the shape of the SAS, may have escaped the gaze of the black-bereted recruits to the Yugoslav force. <br><br>The revelation comes amid an increasing sense of doom in Montenegro, following the announcement by Mr Milosevic that he will seek re-election as Yugoslav president in polls in late September. An internal EU analysis recently predicted that Mr Milosevic would most probably win at least another four years in office. <br><br>In the grounds of the Hotel Zlatica, now converted into a barracks on the outskirts of Montenegro's capital, Podgorica, Velibor, 23, an experienced officer in the Spezijalni, spoke of his time with the British unit: "It was great. We learnt a lot. Some of the techniques they use are different to ours." <br><br>The threat from fellow countrymen in the Seventh Battalion is treated very seriously: "If somebody wants to harm our country, you have to shoot him. It doesn't matter if it's your friend or your father or your brother. My best friend – or he used to be, he joined the army and I joined the police – told me 'brother, it's better for me to shoot you because then you can't shoot me'." <br><br>Velibor stands well over 6ft tall, as do most of the officers in the élite unit of the Special Police – seemingly in contrast to their SAS tutors. "They told us 'You have very big guys here... we are all small guys and we like to run, and you all like to lift weights.' We were very strange to them." <br><br>The Special Police has a fierce reputation in Montenegro – its gung-ho approach seemingly unsettling the SAS. "They thought we were crazy. When two of us banged into a house and started shooting into walls, bullets were flying around and they said 'Oh, it's a real gun, real bullets? You're crazy guys, you don't have protection'. But we have a heart, we don't have protection but we have a heart. A big heart." <br><br>The role of the SAS in Montenegro is highly sensitive, with the Special Police seen as a challenge from inside Yugoslavia to Mr Milosevic. His supporters have regularly claimed that "foreign forces" are arming and training the Spezijalni. Montenegro's government officially denies any involvement by foreign nations in the training or arming of the police. <br><br>The SAS training includes hostage rescue. A key scenario played out by the anti-terrorist unit of the Spezijalni is how to react to an attempted coup by forces loyal to Mr Milosevic. <br><br>The Seventh Battalion, all Montenegrin, whose largest contingent is based near the northern town of Bijelo Polje, has been recruiting in numbers for the past six months. <br><br>Ivan, a softly spoken man in his late thirties, fought for the Yugoslav army during the wars that ripped Yugoslavia apart in the 1990s. He was under the orders of Mr Milosevic then and would continue to follow his orders now. <br><br>"If Djukanovic calls for a referendum or moves in any other violent way towards independence, the Seventh Battalion will follow the orders of the president. If there is a situation where weapons will decide the outcome, we are ready. We are training for that." <br><br>Mr Djukanovic describes the Seventh Battalion as a "paramilitary force". "Mr Milosevic has always formed groups with the aim of provoking internal conflicts," he says.</font><br></p> <a name="newsitem965029270,3692,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>Washington Post : Milosevic Seems a Winner</center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000">'No Credible Alternative' in September Election<br><br>ROME - Roughly half the work force in Yugoslavia is unemployed and high inflation is eating away at citizens' already barren lifestyle. Economic sanctions continue to pinch recovery from war. Hundreds of political activists are in jail, sometimes enduring beatings, and assassinations are common.<br>Yet the man who presides over all of this, President Slobodan Milosevic, regarded by the United States and its allies as the greatest single threat to peace in Eastern Europe, is almost certain to secure an additional four-year term in elections he has called for Sept. 24, senior U.S. and European officials predict.<br><br>Through intimidation, political manipulation and lofty nationalist rhetoric, he is settling in as the Saddam Hussein of Europe, a man who lost a war but holds onto power indefinitely.<br><br>Mr. Milosevic has effectively run Yugoslavia since 1989. Today, ''there is no credible alternative'' to him, lamented a U.S. government analyst, who asked not to be named. No opposition figure with the moral stature and political skill of Lech Walesa of Poland has surfaced. Most opposition leaders here have ''congenitally bad judgment'' that leads them to make self-serving decisions, the analyst said.<br><br>A Milosevic election victory, said Bratislav Grubacic, editor of the Belgrade newsletter VIP Daily News Report, would ''crush the hopes of the West that peaceful change can happen'' in Yugoslavia.<br><br>With a new term in hand, some U.S. officials fear, Mr. Milosevic may feel emboldened to incite new resistance to the Western-led peacekeeping operation in Bosnia and Kosovo. They also say they worry he will grind down the pro-Western leaders of Montenegro, a republic that is ostensibly part of Yugoslavia, or provoke an incident there that could justify a military takeover.<br><br>He would be moving at a time when there is little appetite in Western capitals for another military confrontation with Mr. Milosevic.<br><br>Fearful of assassination, the 58-year-old president rarely appears in public, and only then to deliver brief speeches to supporters about the evils of fascism. Indicted for war crimes in Bosnia and Kosovo, he is still shunned by virtually all foreign leaders, although he has hosted senior emissaries this year from a handful of other isolated states, such as Iraq and Burma, as well as the speaker of the Chinese Parliament.<br><br>Our president ''is the symbol of the struggle for the defense of sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence,'' said Ivica Dacic, a ruling party official, said on state-run television. Thanks to Mr. Milosevic, he added, Yugoslavia managed ''to preserve our right to decide about our fate ourselves.''<br><br>That kind of talk plays well with segments of the Yugoslav population, to whom Mr. Milosevic is a hero who stands up to Western intimidation. But recent polls in Yugoslavia have indicated that more than two-thirds of the electorate favors Mr. Milosevic's ouster.<br><br>The problem is that his opposition is deeply divided, and polls also indicate that each of his potential political opponents is even less popular than he is. Widespread apathy and cynicism is also likely to undermine the voting turnout.<br><br>Vuk Draskovic, who heads the Serbian Renewal Movement, the largest opposition party, told radio B2-92 of Belgrade after surviving an assassination attempt in mid-June that he had no interest in the elections. ''Let them have everything, let them choke on it, let them choke on their own power,'' said the rattled politician. The spokesman for his party says the movement will neither participate in the elections nor support any candidate.<br><br>The anti-Milosevic coalition that governs Montenegro has also repeatedly said its supporters will not vote.<br><br>''This is a dark forest, and we are up the creek again,'' said Nenad Canak, an opposition political leader in Serbia's Vojvodina region, in an interview with the independent Beta news agency in Yugoslavia. ''If we participate in the elections, we must accept that Milosevic will cheat, and if we don't, we hand everything to him on a plate.''<br><br>On Friday, Mr. Milosevic formally announced his candidacy. He would not be running at all were it not for constitutional changes that he pushed through the Yugoslav Parliament. Those changes removed a bar on him seeking a new term. They also set up a system of direct election of the president, which Mr. Milosevic's supporters claim can only increase democracy.<br><br>Under the new rules, which were ratified by the Parliament, Mr. Milosevic can win by gaining a simple majority of votes cast, no matter how low the turnout. U.S. officials also said they expect Mr. Milosevic, whose appointees will have complete control of the procedures for both presidential and municipal elections to be held the same day, to stuff the ballot boxes if needed.</font><br></p> <a name="newsitem965029232,9713,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>The New York Times : U.S. Urging Milosevic Opponents to Unite for September Vote</center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000"><br>By STEVEN ERLANGER<br><br>PRAGUE, July 30 -- American officials are putting strong pressure on the president of Montenegro and the leader of Serbia's largest opposition party to take part in Yugoslav elections called in September, according to Yugoslav politicians and Western officials. <br>The American officials argue that a united opposition in Serbia, together with voters in Montenegro, Serbia's increasingly independent partner in the Yugoslav federation, would have a good chance of defeating President Slobodan Milosevic in the presidential and parliamentary elections he has called for Sept. 24. <br><br>Mr. Milosevic and his allies have launched a new wave of repression and altered the Constitution to create direct elections for his position -- which he otherwise would have to relinquish next July. <br><br>The only time the opposition has triumphed in past elections was when it united for municipal elections in 1996, winning in Belgrade and dozens of other cities. Mr. Milosevic initially refused to recognize the victories, prompting three months of mass demonstrations. <br><br>If these elections are manipulated or stolen, as expected, the Americans argue, the opposition will have another rallying cry for anti-Milosevic demonstrations. But a boycott provides no chance to beat Mr. Milosevic, they say, and a divided opposition has almost no chance to win. <br><br>In late 1997, Milo Djukanovic broke with Mr. Milosevic and won the presidency in Montenegro. He has allied himself with the West, but is refusing to participate in the September elections, arguing that the constitutional changes were made without consultation with Montenegro and aim to reduce its influence. <br><br>Mr. Djukanovic's officials say that to participate in these elections would only ratify Mr. Milosevic's constitutional coup and legitimize the likely outcome -- a Milosevic victory, fair or otherwise. <br><br>The changes to the Constitution have also removed previous requirements for a minimum turnout of half the eligible voters -- apparently to blunt any opposition boycott or the effect of widespread apathy among a generally depressed electorate. <br><br>Vuk Draskovic, the leader of the largest single opposition party in Serbia, the Serbian Renewal Movement, says that he will not participate in federal elections if Mr. Djukanovic will not. Mr. Draskovic also argues that these elections cannot be free and fair -- with attacks on opposition politicians, the judiciary, student protesters and intense government pressure on the independent news media. <br><br>The rest of Serbia's political opposition, largely grouped into the Alliance for Change, says it will take part, and is urging Mr. Draskovic to follow suit. <br><br>Mr. Draskovic is almost sure to participate in the local elections, where his party has many seats and privileges to defend. A boycott of the elections would cause a revolt in his own party, Draskovic aides admit. <br><br>A likely opposition presidential candidate is Vojislav Kostunica, a moderate nationalist who is considered free of corruption or of cooptation by the West -- distinguishing him from Mr. Draskovic or his great rival, Zoran Djindjic of the Democratic Party. <br><br>In May, the government took over the Belgrade television station Mr. Draskovic controlled, Studio B, and prevented the independent radio station, B2-92, and two others from broadcasting in Belgrade. <br><br>The government has been regularly suing the independent news media under a tough information law passed in October 1998 and has also restricted newsprint to major independent publications, particularly Blic, a popular tabloid whose circulation has been reduced by nearly half. <br><br>And last week, in a trial that produced outrage domestically and internationally, a Serbian journalist, Miroslav Filipovic, was convicted by a military court in Nis on charges of espionage and sentenced to seven years in prison. <br><br>Mr. Filipovic, who works for the independent Belgrade publication Danas, Agence France-Presse and a London-based Internet site called the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, wrote a number of articles that annoyed the government, including one that cited an internal Yugoslav Army report on unhappiness and remorse over the brutal tactics used against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo -- tactics that caused Mr. Milosevic and four top aides to be indicted on charges of war crimes. <br><br>Unusually for a suspected spy, Mr. Filipovic signed his name to his articles, and no evidence was presented to indicate that he had secret contacts with any foreigner or intelligence agency. <br><br>The government has also accused other independent journalists in Serbia of being spies and working on the orders of the Central Intelligence Agency or the same NATO countries that bombed Serbia last year, but in no case has provided evidence. <br><br>While these forms of pressure are hardly new in Serbia, they are increasing and indicate pre-election nervousness in the Milosevic camp. <br><br>"Milosevic is very shaky and obviously very concerned about these elections," said Ognjen Pribicevic, a Draskovic aide. "His worry is not just because of the opposition, but because the situation in Serbia is disintegrating in every sense, economically and politically."</font><br></p> <a name="newsitem964857920,97859,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>The Los Angeles Time : Milosevic Calls Elections for Sept. 24 </center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000">Yugoslavia: The move comes 3 weeks after a constitutional bar to his running was removed. Increasing repression has weakened the opposition. <br><br>By PAUL WATSON, Times Staff Writer<br><br>VIENNA--After months of increasing repression that has weakened the already fractured opposition in Yugoslavia, President Slobodan Milosevic's government announced Thursday that Serbia and the Yugoslav federation will hold elections Sept. 24. <br>The decision to conduct presidential, parliamentary and local elections came exactly three weeks after Milosevic rewrote a constitution that had prohibited him from running for reelection after his term expires next year. Under the new constitution, he can potentially hold on to power for two more terms of four years each. <br>Milosevic pulled off what opposition politicians called "a constitutional coup" in a matter of hours July 6--with the unintended help of his foes. The Serbian Renewal Movement, led by Vuk Draskovic, was boycotting parliament, thus guaranteeing that there were not enough votes to defeat Milosevic's constitutional amendments. <br>Draskovic, a mercurial politician who consistently ranks as one of Serbia's most popular leaders, may ensure Milosevic's reelection as well. <br>Draskovic has refused to create a united front with other opposition parties, which argue that only a coalition supporting a single candidate can defeat Milosevic, who has been indicted on war crimes charges by the international tribunal at The Hague. <br>Although public opinion polling is often unreliable in Yugoslavia, surveys consistently suggest that Milosevic will win if the opposition does not unite behind a single candidate. <br>Milosevic, with just 13.7% support, was ranked as Yugoslavia's most popular politician in a survey conducted in Serbia and Montenegro by Mark-Plan, an independent polling firm in Belgrade, the Serbian and Yugoslav capital. The results were published July 19. <br>Draskovic came second, with 6.3%. Milo Djukanovic, president of Montenegro, the pro-Western partner of Serbia in the Yugoslav federation, placed third in the poll, with support from 4.9% of those surveyed. <br>In yet another sign of deep cynicism and disappointment with Milosevic and his opponents alike, 39.5% said they trust no politician. <br>Milosevic's Socialist Party is the most popular one in Serbia, with the backing of 17.6% of those polled. If the opposition ended its bickering to present a united front, it could--with 32.2% backing--defeat Milosevic, the survey suggested. <br>Draskovic's Serbian Renewal Movement could expect to get only 11.5% of the votes, according to the poll. <br>The man most often named the best candidate to take on Milosevic as head of a united opposition is Vojislav Kostunica, a soft-spoken Serbian nationalist and former law professor and dissident. <br>A "sworn anti-communist," Kostunica comes across as a stiff and boring "intellectual," no match for the charisma of Draskovic and his main rival, Democratic Party head Zoran Djindjic. But unlike them, Kostunica isn't seen as a corrupt ally of the West. <br>"He has never forgotten Western leaders' bombing of Serbia," columnist Ljubodrag Stojadinovic wrote in the independent daily Glas Javnosti. "He has never met the people who personified [NATO] aggression. However, that doesn't mean that he is not ready to talk to the democratic West." <br>Kostunica would stand a "great" chance against Milosevic, Djindjic said last week. <br>Draskovic has remained in Montenegro since assassins almost killed him at his seaside home there June 15. <br>Draskovic's party may reconsider its boycott of the elections if certain conditions are met, including that the vote be free and fair, spokesman Ivan Kovacevic said Thursday. <br>Draskovic and his party are likely to contest municipal elections in the hope of holding on to control of local government and the lucrative payoffs, especially in Belgrade. <br>Allowing the opposition to hold power in several towns and cities has proved one of Milosevic's most successful strategies: Opposition politicians compete with each other for control of local government because they can enrich themselves through endemic corruption. <br>Djukanovic, the Montenegrin president, has repeatedly said his republic will boycott any federal poll he considers illegal. Djukanovic has also suggested many times that he may call a referendum on independence, only to step back in the face of threats from Belgrade. <br>"The situation in Montenegro is very worrying," George Robertson, secretary-general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, said in Paris on Thursday after meeting with French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin. <br>"I again repeat my warning to President Milosevic not to make mistakes that he has made in the past and not to continue to undermine the elected government of Montenegro," Robertson added. <br>Parliamentary and local elections weren't due until November, but Milosevic apparently had an eye on Kosovo when setting an earlier date for the balloting. <br>Although Kosovo is still technically a province of Serbia, a United Nations administration runs the territory as a virtual protectorate and has scheduled local elections for October. <br>As many as 100,000 Serbs still live in Kosovo, but only a few registered for the October vote even though the U.N. pushed hard to break the boycott by extending its registration for a few days earlier this month. <br>The U.N. estimates that 210,000 Serbs and members of other minorities fled Kosovo to Serbia proper when ethnic Albanian extremists began killing non-Albanians and burning homes after NATO-led peacekeepers took control of the province in June 1999. <br><br>Belgrade is expected to invite Kosovo Serbs to cross the administrative border to vote in September.</font><br></p> <a name="newsitem964857896,29342,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>Yugoslavia: Fractured Opposition Is No Match For Milosevic</center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000">By Andrew F. Tully<br><br>On Thursday, Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic set presidential and parliamentary elections for 24 September. The same day, in Washington, four of his opponents were testifying about the political climate in the federation of Serbia and Montenegro. RFE/RL correspondent Andrew F. Tully reports. <br><br>Washington, 28 July 2000 (RFE/RL) -- Four political opponents of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic say that country's ruling coalition no longer has the support of the majority of the Yugoslav people.<br><br>But they add that opposition parties in Yugoslavia are so fractured that they probably will not be able to oust Milosevic in the 24 September elections.<br><br>The three Serbs and one Montenegrin gave their assessment during testimony in Washington before the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe -- also known as the Helsinki Commission.<br><br>Their testimony came Thursday -- the same day that Milosevic, in Belgrade, announced that the Yugoslav Republic -- made up of Serbia and Montenegro -- will hold presidential and parliamentary election on 24 September.<br><br>Milosevic's Socialist Party of Serbia meets today to plan its strategy. It is expected to nominate the president for an unprecedented second term. Until now, the Yugoslav Constitution forbade a president to serve more than one term. But earlier this month, the parliament changed the constitution, allowing Milosevic to run for two more four-year terms as president.<br><br>The four Yugoslav dissidents testifying before the Helsinki Commission said they would not be surprised if the federation faced eight more years of Milosevic's control. One was Stojan Cerovic, a journalist with the United States Institute for Peace, an independent think-tank in Washington funded by the U.S. Congress. Cerovic alluded to the sudden change in the Yugoslav Constitution as just one step that Milosevic is taking to ensure the longevity of his political control.<br><br>"Milosevic's problem is real and he would like to survive, he would like to win the elections, and he's basically doing his best now to create an atmosphere in which he will be able to win."<br><br>Another witness was Bogdan Invanisevic, a Yugoslav researcher for Human Rights Watch, who also noted the change in the constitution that favors Milosevic. He and others said Milosevic does not enjoy the support of the majority of eligible voters in either Serbia or Montenegro.<br><br>"For the first time, the threat for the authorities to be removed from power as a result of elections is a real one."<br><br>Cerovic agreed, but he said a united opposition is essential to defeat the Socialists in September.<br><br>"According to the polls, support for...Milosevic and his...ruling coalition is going down, and the opposition parties, if united, they can count on a clear majority at the moment."<br><br>But Cerovic added that so far, the opposition parties show no sign of working together. The other witnesses agreed.<br><br>Also testifying was Branislav Canak, president of the independent Serbian trade union Nezavisnost. He said a united opposition is essential to show the people of the Yugoslav Federation that votes against Milosevic would not be wasted.<br><br>"We need one very basic precondition: It's united opposition. If they still remain divided on the eve of the elections, we will never motivate the people because they don't see the reason -- realistic reason -- why they should go out and vote."<br><br>The witness with perhaps the gloomiest outlook was David Dasic, the head of Montenegro's trade mission to the United States. The political leadership in Podgorica has expressed fears that the constitutional change allowing Milosevic to seek a second and a third term will further marginalize Montenegro.<br><br>Even before the constitutional change, the republic was seen as the lesser half of the Yugoslav Federation. Now, Dasic said, Montenegro can never hope to see its proper position restored.<br><br>"The consequences of the recent changes are destructive for Montenegro. Montenegro is no more an equal constituent of the federal state. Practically, the president of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia will never be from Montenegro."<br><br>The witnesses also told the Helsinki Commission about what they described as rampant human rights violations committed by Milosevic's government. They ranged from harassment and beatings of pro-democracy demonstrators to making it difficult for independent newspapers to get newsprint. Ivanisevic said the U.S. could help improve Yugoslavia's human rights record by asking Russia to use its influence on Milosevic.</font><br></p> <a name="newsitem964769493,66533,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>The IWPR : Montenegrin Divisions Grow</center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000">Montenegrin society is rapidly polarising between supporters of independence and those backing continued union with Serbia.<br><br>By Dragana Nikolic in Kotor (BCR No. 159, 25-July-2000)<br><br>Outside the lively, 12th Century walled city of Kotor, the picturesque fishing village of Ljuta nestles beneath the black mountains which gave Montenegro its name. But all is not as tranquil as it looks. <br><br>At the village kiosk, sixty-year-old Andja chides her neighbours for forgetting their roots and disregarding their Orthodox faith. Many in Ljuta support President Milo Djukanovic's cautious moves towards independence, but Andja is one of a small minority who believe that the road to independence could lead this tiny republic of 600,000 to disaster. <br><br>The ties which bind the two republics are too intricate ever to be unravelled, she argues, plus she doubts whether Montenegro could ever survive on its own. Anxious that her world could soon fragment, she supports the Socialist Peoples Party, SNP, of Yugoslav Prime Minister, Momir Bulatovic, which offers unswerving support to Yugoslav President, Slobodan Milosevic, and vents her anger against villagers who think otherwise.<br><br>Further down the coast in Budva, 27-year-old film-maker Maria has quite a different vision of Montenegro. Tired of waiting, she wants the Montenegrin government to take concrete steps to clarify the republic's status - preferably in a peaceful way. <br><br>"I need to know who I am, to be free from this confusion." So far as Maria is concerned she is already living in a de facto separate state anyway. The Yugoslav dinar has almost vanished from Montenegro, where even government workers are paid in German marks and when she travels to Serbia, she is subjected to searches of documents and belongings of a kind normally reserved for international border crossings. "Why are we pretending? Why wait?" she asks. "We have already separated." Now Marija wants a divorce.<br><br>Montenegrin society is rapidly polarising between these two positions, with Momir Bulatovic's supporters enlisting in the reserve units of the Yugoslav Army, while young men who favour independence are hastily joining Montenegrin reserve police units, which fall under the direct command of Milo Djukanovic. <br><br>As with all conflicts in Yugoslavia, deep-rooted historical grievances lie just below the surface. In 1918, the Serbian Karadjordjevic dynasty ousted the Montenegrin King, Nikola I Petrovic, who emigrated to Italy. Pro-Serb forces known as "Whites" defeated the "Greens" who supported independence and Montenegro was duly annexed to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, under the auspices of the Karadjordjevic dynasty.<br><br>The pro and anti-independence forces in modern Montenegro still go by the names of their forebears. "Whites", who support the SNP, are mainly from the older generation, often former Communists who want to preserve the old Yugoslav ideal at all costs. Many Montenegrin youth, however, are "Greens" who hope that independence will bring long-awaited economic change and prosperity to their country. There is also a rough north-south divide in the country, with the south broadly supporting Djukanovic, while the north tends towards Bulatovic.<br><br>The latest constitutional changes in Belgrade have done nothing to ease the escalation of tensions. Pro-independence Montenegrins are incensed by what they see as another of Milosevic's attempts to consolidate his power base and marginalise Montenegro. "I think that Montenegro should go its own way. The only way I could support the union between Montenegro and Serbia would be to call it Monte Serbia," jokes twenty-four-year old Sandra, a student from Podgorica.<br><br>Many Montenegrins perceive the constitutional reforms as the latest proof that Montenegro can never be an equal partner in Yugoslavia. "The ratio between Serbs and Montenegrins is 17:1," says Miko Zivkovic, leader of the Liberal Party. "Equality of parliamentary members at a Federal level is key. Otherwise, how can 600,000 Montenegrins ever be equal to 10 million Serbs?"<br><br>But Zivkovic does not see a more serious threat in the changes; he thinks that Milosevic is simply sending a signal to Djukanovic not to run in federal elections expected later this year. "He is trying to cordon Serbia off as a way of consolidating his power base. He doesn't want Montenegro around as a destabilising factor. In fact, he wants us to leave," he says.<br><br>As the summer season in Montenegro reaches its peak, planes, buses and trains full of Serbs are arriving at seaside resorts, despite a state media campaign warning them that "you need a sack full of foreign currency" to holiday in Montenegro, and urging them to visit Serbian spa-towns instead.<br><br>While they welcome a tourist "invasion" from Serbia, Montenegrins are more worried than ever before about Serbian influence on their language, culture and identity. "We live in a zone of small differences, which makes the search for our own identity that much more difficult," comments a former Yugoslav diplomat now resident in Podgorica, whose conscience compelled him to resign from a foreign ministry firmly in thrall to Milosevic's world view.<br><br>Local analysts agree that Milosevic wouldn't need to send in the Yugoslav Army to block independence. With opposing forces in place on the ground, he could provoke bloodshed by remote control from Belgrade. <br><br>However, just like their counterparts in Croatia and Bosnia before them, ordinary Montenegrins seem blissfully unaware that they may be on the brink of a conflict. As August beckons, most are thinking of a long hot summer by the sea and want to postpone all thought of Yugoslav politics till the autumn.<br><br>Dragana Nikolic is an IWPR contributor .</font><br></p> <a name="newsitem964769458,69716,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>Increased fighting between rebels and Yugoslavian forces: KFOR</center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000">DOBROSIN, Yugoslavia, July 27 (AFP) - <br>Fighting in southern Serbia between Yugoslavian security forces and ethnic Albanian separatists has intensified in the past week, US troops stationed nearby told AFP Thursday.<br><br>The commander of the KFOR peacekeeping force's Outpost Sapper, Captain Tom Hairgrove, said that his troops had heard automatic gunfire and explosions from over the administrative border in Serbia proper near the village of Dobrosin on two nights this week.<br><br>As he spoke, his troops were reinforcing the fortifications surrounding the checkpoint they man on the narrow country road beween Gnjilane in Kosovo and Dobrosin with extra razor wire and barricades packed with soil and rocks.<br><br>Dobrosin is in a pocket of Serbia controlled by the Liberation Army of Presevo, Medvedja and Bujanovac (UPCMB), an ethnic Albanian guerilla force fighting to separate the Presevo valley area and its 70,000-strong Albanian majority from Yugoslavia.<br><br>Guerrillas in the village confirmed to AFP Thursday that there had been recent fighting in the area but refused to discuss details.<br><br>"We have heard bursts of automatic gunfire and explosions, probably mortars. There's definitely something going on," Hairgrove said.<br><br>KFOR sources said that the increased activity around Dobrosin in the five-kilometre (three-mile) -wide Ground Safety Zone, a demilitarised strip of land between UN-administered Kosovo and Serbia proper, was a matter of concern.<br><br>The zone was set up under the Military Technical Agreement signed between NATO and Yugoslavia in June last year to regulate the withdrawal of Belgrade's forces from the disputed province.<br><br>Under the agreement, the Yugoslavian army is barred from entering the zone, although Belgrade's well-armed interior ministry paramilitary police force does patrol there and sometimes clashes with the rebels.<br><br>The UPCMB guerrillas move around openly in Dobrosin, where they are clearly in charge. They are well armed with good quality Yugoslavian manufactured Kalashnikov assault rifles and a variety of pistols, grenades and sub-machine guns.<br><br>US soldiers stationed 200 metres (yards) from the village estimate their strength in Dobrosin at any one time to be around 60.<br><br>KFOR patrols keep a close eye on the frontier to try and prevent arms being smuggled to the rebel group, which is thought to have close links with ethnic Albanian militants in Kosovo.<br><br>One of the rebels met by AFP was wearing the uniform of the Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC), the civilian successor of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). The man, who was unarmed, wore the shoulder flash of the group's Second Region, that operating in the north of Kosovo near Kosovska Mitrovica.<br><br>The KPC, which is commanded by former KLA leaders, was set up as a civilian disaster relief force and receives funding from international donors including the United States and the European Union.<br><br>Other rebels wore a variety of camouflage or black fatigues emblazoned with the red, black and gold UPCMB badge, itself very similar to those worn by the KLA and KPC.<br><br>From the hill above Dobrosin, a small farming community huddled around a tiny mosque, six-man UPCMB patrols can be seen strung out along dirt tracks into the hills around the village.<br><br>KFOR has repeatedly warned the UPCMB that they will not allow their troops to be drawn into fighting in the Ground Safety Zone or further inside Serbia.</font><br></p> <a name="newsitem964601488,18713,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>The Christian Science Monitor : Democratic values in Balkans?</center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000">Christopher Walker<br><br>NEW YORK <br><br>A clash of cultures threatens to hold back democratic development in the Balkans. But it's not what you might think.<br><br>Though ethnic and nationalist tensions remain a grave problem in many parts of former Yugoslavia, it is the ruinous mix of isolation, dependency, and criminality causing the region's undoing. While no one imagined setting things right in this part of Europe would be quick or easy, the long-term implications of cultures of corruption and criminality entrenching themselves should be of serious concern to North Americans and Europeans who have invested so much to bring stability to the Balkans.<br><br>Serbia, a country of 9 million perched in the geographic center of the Balkans, has been subject to blanket sanctions for almost a decade. Western policymakers have chosen international ostracism and isolation for Belgrade, but have come to realize that this policy has sharp limits.<br><br>Montenegro, the smaller constituent republic of rump Yugoslavia along with Serbia, is extremely vulnerable. Embroiled in political brinkmanship with Belgrade, the republic is dependent on Western aid to remain afloat.<br><br>The United States is providing $77 million in assistance to Montenegro (population 600,000) this year alone. Bosnia and Kosovo, both of which suffered horribly during the wars of the last decade, are now effectively foreign-administered semi-protectorates, largely dependent on external assistance.<br><br>And while Serbia's isolation and the dependency of Bosnia, Kosovo, and Montenegro are grave problems, the region's culture of corruption and criminality knows no borders.<br><br>These cultures are by no means exclusive of each other. Indeed, isolation and dependency feed the criminality and corruption that plague the region. Sanctions on Serbia enable black markets and transborder criminal enterprises to flourish.<br><br>Millions of dollars in aid provided by the UN and other foreign administrators enable vast corruption in Bosnia and Kosovo.<br><br>Earlier this month, the US General Accounting Office issued a report indicating that crime and corruption in Bosnia are so pervasive that aid should be withheld until local authorities demonstrate they are serious about changing things.<br><br>Organized crime has been a persistent problem throughout the southern Balkans, not to mention the powerful rackets and gangs that operate virtually unmolested in Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, and Macedonia.<br><br>With all of its imperfections, the reconstruction process is under way in Bosnia and Kosovo, and there are signs of progress.<br><br>In Serbia, any such reconstruction effort is on hold until President Slobodan Milosevic is no longer on the scene. Last month at an international conference on the progress of the Stability Pact for Southeastern Europe, German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer and US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright restated their belief that Balkan-wide prosperity and democratization can only happen when Serbia rids itself of Mr. Milosevic.<br><br>But while Milosevic finds himself boxed in - indicted as a war criminal and cut off from much of the world - he nonetheless remains in power.<br><br>Paradoxically, the West finds itself in a box of its own, already having used considerable military force against Belgrade and unable to withdraw sanctions in more than a token fashion so long as Milosevic is in charge. The loss of face the West would suffer in a significant scaling back of sanctions is unthinkable.<br><br>But in the meantime, the benefits that would otherwise accrue to the West from a genuine economic revival throughout Southeastern Europe won't happen as long as sanctions remain in place, a time frame that should exactly mirror the period Milosevic manages to stay in power.<br><br>Croatia is one of former Yugoslavia's bright spots. Under the leadership of reform-minded President Stipe Mesic, who replaced the authoritarian and corrupt Franjo Tudjman, Zagreb now supports The Hague-based war crimes tribunal as well as efforts of the international community aimed at keeping peace in Southeastern Europe. But Croatia still faces considerable challenges in overhauling its economy and reorienting its politics.<br><br>In areas where the West is heavily engaged, namely Kosovo and Bosnia, there is insufficient political will to tackle the important task of local law enforcement and court administration.<br><br>Bernard Kouchner, the head of the UN mission in Kosovo, has criticized key UN member states for the laggardly pace of supplying sorely needed foreign policemen, prosecutors, and judges.<br><br>Lofty pronouncements on democracy in Yugoslavia need to be substituted by action on the more pressing need for effective law enforcement and judicial administration at the local level.<br><br>The fact is that an anchoring of democratic values in the Balkans will not happen if the international community decides to skip the unglamorous, but essential work needed to stem corruption and crime. To do so would allow far too much of the territory of the former Yugoslavia to carry a shameful legacy of impunity into the future.<br><br><br>Christopher Walker, who spent 1995 to 1998 in the Balkan region, is an analyst specializing in European affairs.</font><br></p> <a name="newsitem964601461,31033,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>The Guardian : Serb army tries author of atrocity reports as spy </center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000">Jonathan Steele <br><br>A Serb journalist who reported on atrocities in Kosovo went on trial for espionage in a military court in the Serbian city of Nis yesterday. <br>Miroslav Filipovic's reports on atrocities committed in the province last year included accounts by Yugoslav officers who said they were shocked at some of the brutality they had seen their side perpetrating. <br><br>Mr Filipovic, who has already been detained for several weeks, is the first Serb journalist to face such serious charges. His case has aroused extensive international protest and he was recently named the European Internet Journalist of the Year. <br><br>Mr Filipovic worked for the web-based Institute for War and Peace Reporting in London, the French news agency Agence France-Presse and a Belgrade paper, Danas. <br><br>His hard-hitting pieces have included reports on the defection of generals from the Yugoslav army and the sending of elite army and police units in plain clothes to Kosovo in recent months to incite clashes between Serb and Albanian civilians, with the aim of discrediting international peacekeeping efforts. <br><br>The presiding judge, a colonel, ordered the court into closed session soon after the trial opened yesterday, because the deputy military prosecutor, Captain Aleksandar Kalicanin, said Mr Filipovic's testimony would contain sensitive military information. <br><br>The charges state that he committed espionage by "collecting secret military data from the beginning of May 1999 until May 2000, with the intention of passing it on to foreign organisations such as IWPR and AFP." <br><br>They also say he spread false information - with the intention of provoking civil unrest - by reporting that "the Yugoslav army committed atrocities in Kosovo and Metohija [a mountainous district in the province], and shelled and destroyed villages". <br><br>Mr Filipovic's most dramatic story was about an internal army survey into wartime atrocities. He later interviewed officers who had spoken to the investigators. "War-weary Serb officers have spoken for the first time of sickening atrocities committed by the Yugoslav army in Kosovo during the Nato bombing campaign" in mid-1999, he wrote. <br><br>"One field commander admitted that he watched in horror as a soldier decapitated a three-year-old boy in front of his family. Another soldier described how tanks in his unit indiscriminately shelled Albanian villages before paramilitary police moved in and massacred the survivors. <br><br>"The shocking confessions were made by officers who took part in a survey commissioned by the army intelligence unit in January and February this year." <br><br>The military men who spoke to Mr Filipovic claimed to be shocked by the enormity of the crimes committed in Kosovo at the climax of the conflict provoked by the secession attempts of the province's ethnic Albanian majority. Particularly disturbing were the combined testimonies of field officers which suggested that Yugoslav army units were responsible for the death of at least 800 Albanian children under the age of five. <br><br>Several officers interviewed by Mr Filipovic said that the army's internal survey had been aimed at gauging their morale at a time when new tension was developing - this time between Serbia and Montenegro. The veterans said they were appalled by the prospect of mounting a military campaign against their ethnic Montenegrin cousins. <br><br>Those interviewed said they were traumatised by what they had seen in Kosovo . <br><br>One officer, Drazen, said, "I watched with my own eyes as a reservist lined up around 30 Albanian women and children against a wall. I thought he just wanted to frighten them, but then he crouched down behind an anti-aircraft machine gun and pulled the trigger." </font><br></p> <a name="newsitem964516038,75920,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>Montenegro leader to visit France Tuesday</center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000"><br>PARIS, July 24 (Reuters) - Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic, fresh from winning G8 backing in his battle with Belgrade, is to visit Paris on Tuesday, diplomatic sources said on Monday. The visit, yet to be announced officially, comes at a time of tense relations between Serbia and Montenegro, the two members of the Yugoslav federation, over constitutional changes pushed through by Belgrade. A statement on the Balkans at the Group of Eight summit in Japan voiced concern about the changes, which open the way for Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to serve another eight years as president, and expressed support for Montenegro"s Western-leaning government. Djukanovic has said his republic, with only 650,000 inhabitants, would boycott federal elections held under the new rules because they denied it equality with 10-million-strong Serbia. European leaders at the summit said the international community should not recognise any Yugoslav election results based on the new laws Milosevic has pushed through. Montenegro has said it might hold a referendum on independence if Milosevic wins another term, a move the West fears could ignite another Balkan conflict.<br></font><br></p> <a name="newsitem964516012,95668,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>The Washington Post: New Laws Prolong Milosevic's Power</center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000"><br>By Misha Savic<br><br><br>BELGRADE, Yugoslavia –– Lawmakers on Monday gave President Slobodan Milosevic the legal opening to extend his autocratic rule while weakening the power of Montegnegro, Serbia's bitter junior partner in the Yugoslav federation. <br><br><br>The federal parliament approved legislation Milosevic's own Cabinet wrote, giving him the option to run for two more four-year terms after his current one expires in July 2001.<br><br><br>It also allows the president to be elected by a simple majority of the popular vote, regardless of election turnout. That's an important change in a country where the opposition has threatened an election boycott.<br><br><br>The opposition was quick to criticize the new laws.<br><br><br>"The outcome of this will be the uncontrolled power of an individual," said Vladeta Jankovic, an opposition deputy who accused the ruling party of treating Milosevic as a "deity, like in primitive religions."<br><br><br>Other changes involve the way legislators for the upper house of the Yugoslav parliament, the Chamber of Republics, are elected. Currently, separate assemblies in Montenegro and Serbia, the much larger Yugoslav republic, each select 20 of the chamber's 40 deputies. Under the new system, the deputies will be elected by popular vote.<br><br><br>That takes away the ability of the small Montenegrin republic's pro-Western government to control its representatives and will make it easier for Milosevic to push Montenegrin politicians that are loyal to him.<br><br><br>"In a shady, clandestine way, Milosevic has prepared an election infrastructure to solidify his power and extend his dictatorship," said Miodrag Vukovic, a top Montenegrin official, who reiterated the republic's threat to boycott the elections.<br><br><br>Yugoslav officials defended the legislation, which followed up on constitutional changes adopted by parliament earlier this month.<br><br><br>"The new laws ensure more freedom and full legality of our election system," said Yugoslav Justice Minister Petar Jojic, a Milosevic supporter.<br><br><br>Western leaders had warned Milosevic not to crack down on Montenegro's breakaway leadership or attempt to force the tiny republic back under his control.<br><br><br>Parliament also reshuffled electoral districts in Serbia, mostly because Serbia's southern province of Kosovo has been under NATO and United Nations control since last summer.<br><br><br>NATO intervened in Kosovo to end ethnic warfare between Kosovo's pro-independence ethnic Albanians and Serbs.<br><br><br>Parliament's decision means that voters from Kosovo can cast their ballots in two districts inside Serbia proper. Because Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority is certain to continue its boycott of elections organized by Belgrade, the likely voters in Yugoslav elections would be the more than 100,000 Serbs who fled Kosovo.<br><br><br>As a consequence, some two dozen seats for deputies from Kosovo could easily be filled by Milosevic loyalists, effectively helping the strongman retain control in the 138-seat lower chamber and 40-seat upper chamber of Parliament.<br><br><br>Serbia's main opposition groups are to meet Tuesday to try define a joint strategy against Milosevic and decide whether to boycott elections.<br></font><br></p> <a name="newsitem964515986,98427,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>Time blurs West's vision of a stable Balkans</center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000">SARAJEVO, July 25 (Reuters) - A year ago this week, world leaders gathered in Sarajevo among buildings damaged by shells and gunfire and pledged to banish war from Europe forever. They outlined a Stability Pact for the Balkans, an echo of the Marshall Plan that helped the continent recover from World War Two, and agreed that long term peace in this particular corner required democracy in what remains of Yugoslavia, shattered by 10 years of disintegration and the Kosovo war last year. One year on, it is clear the political will and funding that drove the Marshall Plan are missing from the Stability Pact. It is also clear that Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic"s idea of democracy is far from that of the West and does not appear to include him stepping down any time soon. This makes an underlying goal of the pact, at least as far as Sarajevo"s most exalted guest U.S. President Bill Clinton was concerned, as elusive as ever. FUTURE CLOUDED BY DOUBT Officially, the pact was aimed at encouraging economic reform, democratisation and cooperation across the volatile Balkans by coordinating international efforts and backing them with funding to those countries which got the message. Things started to go wrong early on. When the delegates left Bosnia, which suffered the worst damage in the violent break-up of Yugoslavia, they also left a 1.5 million German mark ($716,300) bill for their stay in Sarajevo. Bosnian officials say it remained unpaid for months. The European Commission this week dismissed their allegations, saying it was paid "many months ago." James Lyon, director of the International Crisis Group think tank in Sarajevo, noted that it took eight months to arrange the first donor conference and said even then the pledging was essentially a repetition of existing promises. "The Stability Pact has got off to a very slow start and there are doubts as to whether it can achieve what it set out to do," said Lyon. Even the coordinator of the pact, Germany"s Bodo Hombach, has admitted its shortcomings. "The general disappointment is the slowness of the bureaucratic process that creates a lot of impatience," he told Reuters last week, sending a warning to the European Union and Group of Seven leading industrialised nations plus Russia. "I see in southeastern Europe an upward spiral of hope for a new era and the EU and the G8 must now watch out that this does not become a downward spiral of disappointment," he said. MILOSEVIC STILL IN PLACE Coupled with that disappointment is the knowledge that, with internationally isolated and volatile Yugoslavia in the middle of the Balkans, prosperity and peace are distant prospects. "Milosevic is the biggest cause of instability in the region, he"s blocking development and trade," said a senior Western diplomat, expressing a view that crystallised with Milosevic"s indictment by a U.N. war crimes tribunal last year. Even with 20,000 NATO-led troops keeping the peace in Bosnia and more than that in Kosovo, a new outbreak of violence cannot be ruled out. Montenegro, the last republic left in Yugoslavia with Serbia, is the main cause of concern. "We get the feeling that Milosevic is trying to pick a fight with Montenegro," said the diplomat, who has wide experience of the Balkans. He said Milosevic and Montenegro"s pro-Western President Milo Djukanovic were shadow-boxing over what remained of Yugoslavia -- a situation that could get out of hand any time. If Milosevic moved against Montenegro the West would respond, he said, but stopped short of saying how. Mladjan Dinkic, a dissident Serbian economist and one of those recently allowed to sit in on Stability Pact meetings that exclude official Yugoslavia, believes time is running out and that if the Stability Pact is to work at all, it must work fast. "Time is measured in a different way in the developed world, in countries where people plan next year"s summer holiday before they"ve started this one. In southeastern Europe things change from day to day," he said by telephone. He and other Serbian opposition leaders have asked the Stability Pact"s 40-plus members to outline international help for a post-Milosevic era in September, thereby giving them something to offer voters due at the polls by early November. "They say there will be a working group but it hasn"t got anywhere -- maybe because of summer holidays. The pace is very slow," he said. With scepticism in the West over whether the bickering opposition could win elections even with funding pledges, so far the only regional summit on the horizon has been planned to take place after they are due. France, as current president of the European Union, has proposed a summit for Croatia at the end of November. A Bosnian official who has dealt with Stability Pact issues in the war-torn former Yugoslav republic, divided into Moslem-Croat and Serb entities, said this was part of the West"s plan for one country to take the lead in the pact. "Western countries see the pact as a way to encourage the countries to get together to lobby for their interests and they think there should be someone leading the group," he said. The West sees Croatia as a model because its people turned their backs on nationalism in this year"s elections. But its new Western-looking leaders are still wary of being put in the "Balkan" context. Lyon said that while the November meeting seemed to broadly mirror the Stability Pact, it was not clear if it would be part of the same organisation, which was in danger of losing its way. "We don"t know what its role is, we don"t know what it is supposed to be doing," he said. ($1-2.094 German Mark) </font><br></p> <a name="newsitem964515956,12206,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>The Independent: Journalist reveals his sources: the people of Serbia </center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000"><br><br>Miroslav Filipovic is facing 15 years in a Yugoslav prison. His crime – reporting war crimes. <br><br>By Vesna Peric Zimonjic <br><br>25 July 2000 <br><br>Today is the day Miroslav Filopovic has been waiting for – but with little sense of hope or pleasure. For the past two months the Serb journalist has been in custody, charged with espionage. Today he will face a military court in the southern Serbian town of Nis, and if found guilty tomorrow, when the trial ends, he faces between three and 15 years in prison. Filipovic, 49, is the first Serb journalist to be tried for espionage in decades, and the case has become a cause of concern for human rights groups. <br><br>The basis of the charges is a series of articles considered by the authorities to have "undermined the defence of the country". These include one that was published in The Independent, detailing atrocities allegedly committed by Serbian forces in Kosovo. <br><br>Mr Filipovic, 49, worked from the central Serbian town of Kraljevo, 100 miles south of Belgrade, as a correspondent for the capital's independent daily Danas, the French news agency Agence France-Presse and the London-based Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR). <br><br>The Nis military court indicted him on 14 June, accusing him of espionage and spreading false news. Because of the nature of the charges, his attorney, Zoran Ateljevic, says the trial will probably be held behind closed doors. He maintains Mr Filipovic never compromised his professionalism in any of his articles. <br><br>Mr Filipovic wrote for the IWPR about alleged atrocities by Yugoslav Army soldiers in Kosovo at the time of the NATO air strikes last year. <br><br>Mr Filipovic's story, which was also published in The Independent, caused particular offence with its talk of "sickening atrocities". Worst of all from the perspective of the regime, the evidence came from an internal army report showing that many officers were shocked at what they had seen. Sources say the report was aimed at gauging morale at a time when President Slobodan Milosevic seemed to be weighing up the possibility of launching another war, this time against the Yugoslav republic of Montenegro. <br><br>His articles also dealt with the tense situation in the Muslim-populated Serbian region of Sandzak and on the case of army generals who sided with Montenegro's pro-Western president, Milo Djukanovic. <br><br>His pieces in Danas dealt with the growing discontent of provincial Serbia with the regime of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and the hardships of Serb refugees from Kosovo, forgotten by the authorities. <br><br>Mr Filipovic was first arrested in his Kraljevo apartment on 8 May, on the orders of the local civil court. The police searched the apartment and took away a computer hard disk, an address book and his passport. In a matter of days, the case was transferred to the Nis military court which chose at first not to press charges and released him. "I'm not a spy. All the stories I've written were printed under my name and spies do not do such things," Mr Filipovic said on leaving custody. <br><br>He also revealed the investigators had pressed him to reveal his sources. "My sources walk through the town. My articles are based on hundreds of conversations I had with people in Kraljevo or elsewhere." <br><br>On 22 May, the military court opened a new investigation and Mr Filipovic has been in custody ever since. The possibility that he may flee the country and or influence witnesses was quoted by the court as the reason for his prolonged custody. <br><br>The trial opens at the time of growing repression against non-government media in Serbia. The opposition-run Belgrade Studio B radio and TV station and the independent B2-92 radio station were taken over by the government in May. <br><br>Many view the Filipovic case as a dangerous precedent for Serb journalists who work with the international media. Only days ago, the Yugoslav authorities refused to register a Radio Free Europe office in Belgrade, accusing it of efforts to overthrow the government. <br></font><br></p> <a name="newsitem964515928,75225,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>The Guardian: Bosnian minorities risk going home </center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000"><br><br>Jonathan Steele <br>Tuesday July 25, 2000 <br><br>Police backed by Nato troops moved into a tense village in central Bosnia yesterday to carry out the first eviction of the militant Islamic volunteers known as mojahedin, who fought on the Muslim side in the Bosnian war but refused to leave when peace came in 1995. <br>The fundamentalists and their local supporters erected roadblocks last week to ward off the police after the first eviction orders were issued. In skirmishes 19 people were arrested. <br><br>Yesterday's operation in the village of Bocnija went smoothly, though bearded fighters filmed police officers descending on two houses. <br><br>The police found that the first two families due to be evicted had left of their own accord. "We anticipated obstruction and resistance. You never know with these guys," said Mehmed Bradaric, the mayor of Maglaj, himself a Muslim. <br><br>"I am extremely pleased that the process has begun without conflict. That is what we wanted. We didn't wish to begin in an uncivilised manner." <br><br>The 89 mojahedin families include about 65 men from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Sudan, and other countries. The rest are Bosnian militants. They were welcomed during the war of 1992-95, when the United Nations had an embargo on weapons entering Bosnia and the government side was desperate for any kind of military assistance. <br><br>Under the Dayton peace agreement of 1995 all foreign forces were supposed to go home. But many Mojahedin settled in central Bosnia, often in houses once owned by Serbs. They have become active in the logging business. <br><br>The push to evict them is part of a new policy by Wolfgang Petritsch, the internationally appointed high representative for Bosnia, to enforce property laws throughout the country. This has helped to produce a surge in refugees, who have become confident enough to go home to their towns and villages despite the fact that a different ethnic majority now has power. <br><br>Hundreds of people who wanted to go back in the first years of peace found their homes burned down just before they arrived, or else they were greeted by angry mobs throwing stones. <br><br>In the last few months the tide has mysteriously begun to turn. About 12,580 people - four times as many as in the same period of 1999 - went back in the first four months of this year. Officials are baffled, but it seems to be partly that refugees of all ethnic groups are simply impatient five years after the end of the war. <br><br>It also helps that the average returnee is elderly, and therefore seen as little threat. Most have gone to remote and unoccupied homes damaged in the war. But people are also demanding the right to go back to flats where others are illegally squatting. <br><br>The eviction orders - now totalling several thousand and issued by local authorities at the high representative's instigation - are starting what officials describe as a virtuous circle, reversing ethnic cleansing. Mr Petritsch has been sacking officials who refuse to enforce the property laws. <br><br>In Bocinja the mojahedin were occupying houses that used to be Serb owned. The Serbs want to return. The first evictions in the village were deliberately aimed at local mojahedin who had homes to go to elsewhere. The hardest cases are those who are foreign and have no pre-war homes, though many have married locally. <br><br>The evictions have even been proceeding with some success in Republika Srpska, the Serb-run entity. In May, 163 took place there compared to 205 in the Muslim-Croat Federation, which is run from Sarajevo.</font><br></p> <a name="newsitem964434351,3271,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>Serb Opposition Worries Over West </center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000"><br><br>By MISHA SAVIC, Associated Press Writer <br><br>BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (AP) - Serbia's opposition fears recent warnings that the West will not recognize results of upcoming Yugoslav elections could dash their chances of challenging Slobodan Milosevic, representatives said Sunday.<br><br>Most of Serbia's few dozen opposition parties have contemplated running against the Yugoslav president and have been counting on support from Western nations in their attempts.<br><br>On Saturday, a foreign affairs adviser to German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, said that some heads of state attending the G-8 conference in Japan remarked that recent amendments to the Yugoslav constitution were manipulative attempts to prolong Milosevic's rule. As a result, Western leaders will disregard the vote, said the adviser, Michael Steiner.<br><br>The changes included two additional mandates for Milosevic and a downgrading of the position of Montenegro, Serbia's junior partner in the Yugoslav federation.<br><br>Montenegro's pro-Western leadership - which is at odds with Milosevic's central government in Belgrade - has already said it will ignore the general elections that are due by the end of the year.<br><br>Serbia's largest opposition party, Serbian Renewal Movement, led by Vuk Draskovic, has also vowed to boycott the elections.<br><br>Yet several of the other opposition parties, which have recently set their differences aside, were still considering whether or not to challenge the Milosevic's ruling Socialists at the polls.<br><br>Steiner's warning is a ``new development'' calling for a ``reconsideration of a decision about the elections,'' said Dragoljub Micunovic, who heads of the opposition Democratic Center party.<br><br>``This further complicates the situation for Serbia's united opposition,'' said Vladan Batic of Christian Democrats, adding that the opposition is now wondering whether the world will ignore the elections on principle even if the opposition wins.<br><br>Yugoslavia's parliament, dominated by Milosevic loyalists, is to convene Monday to adopt a few electoral laws in tune with the amendments. There are indications the assembly might also set a date for the elections - possibly as early as September.<br><br>Fifteen of Serbia's main opposition groups are to meet Tuesday to further streamline a joint strategy against Milosevic and decide whether to boycott or take part in the elections. They have pledged to stay together either way.<br><br>An opposition boycott would guarantee an easy victory for Milosevic's Socialists and their allies, the ultranationalist Radicals and a neo-communist party led by Milosevic's wife. <br></font><br></p> <a name="newsitem964248524,9326,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>Montenegro independence vote seen if Milosevic wins</center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000">PODGORICA, Yugoslavia, July 21 (Reuters) - A Montenegrin official said on Friday the pro-Western republic would have no choice but to hold a referendum on independence if Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic won another term. Miodrag Vukovic, an aide of Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic, said that if Milosevic "secures himself another four to eight years in power... Montenegro will not be able to sustain his pressure any more and will go for the referendum." "But a referendum is not our goal, it"s a consequence," he told Reuters in an interview. The federal Yugoslav parliament this month adopted constitutional changes which allow the Serbian strongman to win a new period in office at the ballot box when his present term expires in mid-2001. The president will be able to stay in office for a maximum of two four-year terms. Under previous rules, the Yugoslav president was elected by parliament and could not run twice. Elections for the federal parliament should be held by early November and some analysts believe Milosevic may go for an early presidential vote at the same time. Montenegro and the Serbian opposition have accused Milosevic of introducing the changes to prolong his grip on power. The Montenegrin parliament rejected the amendments, which also introduced changes by-passing it in the election of deputies for the upper house of the federal assembly. It said they denied its equality with dominant Serbia in their joint state. But the Montenegrin leadership stopped short of announcing a vote on independence, which the West fears could spark armed conflict between police loyal to Djukanovic and supporters of Milosevic backed by Yugoslav army units based in the republic. <br><br>REFERENDUM LAST RESORT<br> Vukovic did not rule out the possibility of clashes in the coastal republic, but said the authorities were using all democratic means to prevent conflicts. He said a referendum was a last resort, and that there was a chance to preserve a joint state if the Serb opposition beat Milosevic at the ballot box. "When it becomes absolutely certain that there is no long or short term prospect of creating a union with Serbia... Montenegro would opt for independence," he said. Vukovic said he would not be surprised if Milosevic also decided to call early presidential and parliamentary elections in Serbia, in addition to federal polls. The fragmented Serbian opposition has long demanded elections at all levels. "He will surprise the opposition: "you asked for general elections -- here they are,"" he said. Djukanovic has said Montenegro would not take part in elections held under the new rules. The Serbian Renewal Movement, the largest opposition party, has also threatened an election boycott. According to a European Union analysis obtained by Reuters in Brussels this week, Milosevic remains the most trusted leader in Serbia and will most likely succeed in winning re-election as president of Yugoslavia.</font><br></p> <a name="newsitem964248496,47509,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>The Independent: Looking for Radovan </center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000">By Raymond Whitaker <br><br>21 July 2000 <br><br>Anywhere else in Europe, the road to Foca (pronounced "Fotcha") would be filled with holidaymakers' cars. It winds down through a series of rocky gorges, each more breathtaking than the last, carved out by a river so achingly clear that you long to plunge in. Yet vehicles are few and far between, and the river is empty apart from the odd fisherman. <br><br>No tourists are likely to come this way any time soon, for the road crosses back and forth between the two halves of Bosnia. Even before you leave the outskirts of Sarajevo, the capital of the Muslim-Croat Federation, you are in the Serb-controlled part. Here the boundary follows the front line as it was when the Dayton Accords stopped the Bosnian war less than five years ago, and in 10 minutes you can drive from the heart of the city to the heights from which Serb gunners poured mortar bombs and shells into the streets below. Their ammunition boxes still litter the slopes. <br><br>For the rest of the journey you are in Serb territory, except for a finger of land, agreed over several whiskies at Dayton, which gives the Federation access to the town of Gorazde. The limits of this enclave are no longer defined by trenches or tanks, but by giant billboards saying (in English) "Welcome to Republika Srpska". <br><br>When you reach Foca, there is a problem. It is on the opposite bank of the beautiful Drina, celebrated in Serbian folk-song, but the main bridge into the town was demolished by the Nato airstrikes in 1995, which finally persuaded the Serbs to get serious about peace talks. To cross over you have to continue another mile upstream to the next bridge – inconvenient, maybe, but not to local residents who would like as much warning as possible of your approach. Foca is also close to the Serbian, Montenegrin and Croatian borders, which is useful if, as rumour has it, one of the world's most wanted men is hiding in the vicinity: a man still known as "the doctor", who proclaimed the foundation of a Serb republic in Bosnia with himself as president, and ordered the bombardment of Sarajevo. <br><br>The bouffant hair and cynically amused features of Radovan Karadzic, psychiatrist, soi-disant poet and indicted war criminal, disappeared from sight two years ago. "Karadzic went completely underground in 1998," said his former defence minister, Milan Ninkovic, who has reason to fear indictment himself. "Nobody has seen or heard from him since; there have been no messages. We are all trying to work out whether he is in Republika Srpska, Serbia or maybe Russia." <br><br>The whereabouts of Ratko Mladic, the military commander indicted with Karadzic for the massacre of more than 7,000 Muslims at Srbrenica five years ago, are known. Journalists have pinpointed his house in west Belgrade, and he is occasionally seen at a racecourse nearby, as well as the odd football match. But of his partner in genocide, according to the international war crimes tribunal in The Hague, there is no sign. <br><br>The ex-president's wife, Ljiljana, is still head of the Red Cross in Republika Srpska, and makes public appearances before carefully-selected audiences. Last week in Pale, the ski resort near Sarajevo used by Karadzic as his headquarters during the war, she issued a statement to mark the tenth anniversary of his Serbian Democratic Party (SDS). The foreign press was not invited. "Although their marriage is still strong, they spend much of the time apart," said a source in Pale. "For the sake of his security, she often doesn't know where he is. But I think he still comes here sometimes – when you see certain faces in town, he is said to be around. The last time was two or three months ago." <br><br>In Karadzic's looming absence, stories have grown. Many people have heard that the self-promoting poet has turned to religious mysticism. Perhaps, in the tradition of Balkan holy men, he is allowing his beard to grow. One source in Foca claimed to have it on good authority that the fugitive was writing his memoirs, which seems plausible enough, but whether he could get them published is another matter. <br><br>Rumours that the doctor had decamped to the Foca area began two or three months ago, about the time that The Hague netted its biggest fish. In April, French troops seized Momcilo Krajisnik, not only a senior former associate of Karadzic, but the man who took over his role as a nationalist figurehead, at his home in Pale. They were using a powerful new weapon devised by the tribunal: the secret indictment, which means that you do not know you are on the wanted list until you are arrested. <br><br>Using this tool, the tide of arrests has accelerated sharply in the past few months. The SAS regularly takes part in snatches in the British zone of Bosnia, most recently in Prijedor last month, when Dusko Sikirica, commander of the notorious Keraterm prison camp during the war, was taken from his home in the middle of the night and flown to The Netherlands within hours. According to the Serbian media, the rewards on offer have even led to suspects being kidnapped in Serbia and brought to Bosnia. <br><br>No one will confirm it, but Serbian policemen are said to have helped lure one man out of his home. He was then bundled into a car, rowed across the Drina into Bosnia and handed over to the Americans. <br><br>The pressure is beginning to tell on people like Mr Ninkovic, the Republika Srpska defence minister from 1994 to 1996. Helicopters frequently hover over his home in the town of Doboj; when I asked to take his photograph, he hesitated, then said: "Why not – they have plenty anyway." <br><br>For Mr Ninkovic, too, the arrest of Momcilo Krajisnik is worrying, because it implies that the war crimes tribunal is now going after politicians in office at the time of the atrocities as well as the soldiers who carried them out – "objective responsibility", in the jargon, as opposed to "command responsibility". He had agreed to an interview to make it clear that there was no reason why he should be indicted. <br><br>"Although I was defence minister, my main task was to organise the mobilisation of civilians," he said. "I had no power to order anything operational." But did he see the orders? "What do you expect?" he replied, glaring. <br><br>"Mladic issued the orders to the troops," said Mr Ninkovic. "He was not obliged to inform me. I only received orders to supply rations. It wasn't like in your country, where ministers have power. <br><br>"Karadzic was the supreme commander and Mladic the commander of the Republika Srpska army, although he took most of his orders from Belgrade," Mr Ninkovic continued. "At the time of Dayton I piloted a law through the assembly to increase civilian control of the military, and Mladic didn't like that. He arrested me. I thought I was going to be executed. I was released because Patriarch Pavle, the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, intervened." <br><br>Mr Ninkovic said that at the time of the Srebrenica massacre, when General Mladic was filmed on the scene, he was at the other end of Bosnia, where the Croatians were driving Serb forces back. But that might not absolve him from a trip to The Hague to explain himself. "The minister is very popular in Doboj," an associate said before his arrival. "He goes around openly, and doesn't have bodyguards." If he is arrested, however, there is unlikely to be the angry reaction Serbs might have mounted a year ago. Steady and persistent international pressure appears to have worn them down to sullen resignation. <br><br>"We are under occupation," Alexander Draskovic, a hardliner banned from office by the international authorities, told me in Srebrenica. But what was he doing about it? He was getting drunk in a café, and complaining that the international community was "doing nothing to help the town". If Mr Draskovic and Mr Ninkovic are any sign, the forces of reason may be getting the upper hand. <br><br>When the civilised world intervenes in a crisis, it douses the flames with alphabet soup. In Bosnia there is the OHR (Office of the High Representative of more than 50 countries, in effect the Western pro-consul); UNMIBH (the United Nations Mission in Bosnia-Herzegovina); the OSCE (Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, which enforces democracy by excluding people such as Mr Ninkovic) and hundreds of others, such as the IPTF (International Police Task Force, which supervises the local police). The military peacekeepers have gone from being called Unprofor to I-For (Implementation Force) to S-For (Stabilisation Force). <br><br>Some people, the Federation authorities among them, complain that even this mountain of acronyms does not weigh heavily enough on the Serbs. S-For mounted a big security operation last week to protect 3,000 Muslim widows when they returned to Srebrenica to mark the fifth anniversary of the massacre of their menfolk, but one man pointed out that the Serbs still had a military post next door. "S-For will be going back to their bases in the Federation," he said. "They don't patrol around here at night." <br><br>Still, the Serb civilians along the way confined themselves to jeering, and the commemoration ceremony went without incident. It was attended by the Bosnian president, Alia Izetbegovic, the first time he has been on Republika Srpska territory since the war. Gradually, with many inter-agency muddles and political mistakes along the way, the international community has learnt to squeeze Bosnia where it hurts. Secret indictments are keeping the "Pifwics" (Persons Indicted for War Crimes) off-balance, but money is also talking. <br><br>Desperate to get their share of development funds, the SDS has purged the hardliners. The Republika Srpska government has moved from Pale to the more enlightened atmosphere of Banja Luka in central Bosnia, where people from Serbia are amazed at the array of outspoken publications on the newsstands, as well as the range of goods in the shops. Muslims have been elected to the councils of places such as Doboj and even Srebrenica, and the OHR claims it is on the verge of success in forcing significant numbers of people to return to their old homes. <br><br>Even in Foca, where three Serbs in The Hague are accused of rape, torture and sex slavery, and the IPTF post was stormed last year after a war crimes suspect was shot dead while allegedly resisting arrest, Muslims are coming back. Since 1 June the head of the municipal council has been a Muslim, Lutvo Sukalo, who was in the Federation army during the war. He predicts that large numbers of Muslims will return this year, and not just to the outskirts, but to the centre of town. "A psychological block has been removed, especially when it comes to freedom of movement in Bosnia," he said. <br><br>Mr Sukalo works closely with his fellow engineer and technocrat, Dragolub Pipovic, a former Republika Srpska conscript who now runs the municipal administration. "The situation has changed," said Mr Pipovic. "People are forgetting the war. They are more interested in jobs and the economy." Foca is on a list of municipalities where the US refuses to invest because of its hardline reputation, but the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development plans to complete the bridge across the Drina by the end of the year. <br><br>If Radovan Karadzic is hiding in the hills behind the town, the new bridge will make it quicker and easier to get at him, but there are suggestions that the international community is more interested in promoting reconstruction and the reversal of ethnic cleansing than in looking for him, because such efforts are making him an irrelevance in any case. So is the doctor around? "I don't know," laughed Mr Sukalo, "but if I see him I'll let you know." <br></font><br></p> <a name="newsitem964248460,35735,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>The New York Times : Top Balkan Tribunal Upholds Ruling on Rape as War Crime </center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000">By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS<br>HE HAGUE, July 21 -- The Yugoslav war crimes tribunal today upheld a landmark ruling that established rape as a war crime, rejecting an appeal by a Bosnian Croat commander convicted of watching as a knife-wielding subordinate tortured and raped a female prisoner. <br><br>The five-judge appellate chamber rejected every ground upon which the defense contested the Dec. 10, 1998, judgment against the former commander, Anto Furundzija, 31. <br><br>"The appeals chamber has not been persuaded as to the existence of any legal errors which require it to intervene," the Guyanan presiding judge, Mohamed Shahabuddeen, said for the tribunal's court of last resort. <br><br>Prosecutors hailed the decision. <br><br>"It demonstrates that people who are in a position of authority have a responsibility to govern the behavior of people under their authority," said Deputy Prosecutor Graham Blewitt. <br><br>Mr. Furundzija, head of the special military police unit called the Jokers, stood by as one of his soldiers threatened a woman being detained, then raped her during interrogation. <br><br>Mr. Furundzija received a 10-year sentence as a result of the attack, which happened a year into the 1992-95 Bosnian war during a campaign to expel Muslims from the Lasva River Valley. The soldier has been indicted but not captured. <br><br>Mr. Furundzija is one of 14 convicted war criminals sentenced to up to 45 years by the United Nations' International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia since it was established in 1993. <br><br>Two international legal precedents were set. The tribunal admitted the victim's testimony, even though she suffered from post-traumatic stress. It also expanded the definition of sexual assault to be more easily punishable as an act of torture. <br><br>A defense lawyer, Luka Misetic, had challenged the conviction on the grounds that the presiding judge, Florence Mumba of Zambia, had not disclosed her membership in a United Nations women's rights commission that advocated the inclusion of rape as a war crime. The panel ruled that Ms. Mumba had not shown bias in conducting the trial. <br><br>It also dismissed Mr. Misetic's claim that the sentence was excessive because the crime did not result in loss of life. The panel said the trial chamber had "exercised its discretion" within the precedents. <br><br>Quietly watching the verdict was the defense team for three Serbian paramilitary fighters accused of taking part in the nightly rapes of Muslim women at detention centers in the southeast Bosnian city of Foca in 1992. That trial, which began on March 20, is the first international proceeding to focus on systematic rape and sexual enslavement. <br></font><br></p> <a name="newsitem964248438,67617,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>Murder Trial Serbs May Be Freed after U.S. Provides New Evidence</center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000">PRISTINA, Jul 21, 2000 -- (Agence France Presse) The U.S. army said Friday it has sent the judge handling the second trial of three Kosovo Serbs accused of killing an ethnic Albanian war hero new evidence which might lead to them being freed.<br><br>Investigators from the KFOR peacekeeping force on Tuesday handed the Gnjilane District Court "recently developed information" which could lead to a review of the Serbs' "detention status," a statement released by the US army's Headquarters Europe in Heidelberg said.<br><br>The trial of Miroljub Momcilovic and his sons Boban and Jugoslav began again Thursday with an international judge, in the southeast Kosovo town of Gnjilane, after a trial begun last year under an ethnic Albanian judge was abandoned.<br><br>The three Serbs are accused of killing Afrim Gagica, an ethnic Albanian and a well-known former member of the Kosovo Liberation Army, in a shoot-out outside their home in Gnjilane on July 10 last year.<br><br>They have been held in custody since the day of the shooting.<br><br>"Based on a June 19, 2000 media inquiry, the U.S. Criminal Investigation Command re-opened its investigation.<br><br>"Information from the second CID investigation provides the ... prosecutor with a more thorough and complete investigation concerning the death of Mr. Gagica," the statement said.<br><br>On June 17 last year army investigators handed Kosovo's UN administration a report "which stated that the Momcilovic family home was attacked and that they were defending themselves," the statement said.<br><br>A second ethnic Albanian was shot dead by U.S members of the KFOR peacekeeping force who intervened after the start of the gun battle, the statement said.<br><br>Following the start of the first trial on April 25 this year, the London-based human rights group Amnesty International criticized the conduct of the case against the Serbs.<br></font><br></p> <a name="newsitem964178651,60054,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>The Guardian: Nato picked Belgrade targets for propaganda targets </center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000"><br>Special report: Kosovo <br><br>Richard Norton-Taylor <br>Friday July 21, 2000 <br><br>The cruise missile attacks that badly damaged the Serbian television and socialist party headquarters in Belgrade during the Kosovo war were specifically intended to maximise their domestic and international propaganda value, according to senior US officials. <br>The attacks, among the most controversial of Nato's bombing campaign, killed 16 civilians and injured 16 others. <br><br>They are singled out by US officials in an article in the latest issue of Jane's Defence Weekly, which also reveals that the British submarine Splendid fired 20 Tomahawk cruise missiles during the war, 17 of which hit their targets. <br><br>It was the first time British forces had used American-made cruise missiles in a military operation. <br><br>US ships and submarines fired 218 cruise missiles at 66 targets, and 181 reached their "intended aim-points", naval officers told the magazine. <br><br>Planners assessed which parts of the television and party building were most likely to contain the controls for fire alarms and sprinkler systems and the missiles were programmed to hit these spots - they were directed into the sixth floor and on to the roof - to increase the chance that any fire they caused would spread." <br><br>The building burned for three days, according to a senior US naval officer, who highlighted the propaganda value of having a well-known and highly visible government building lighting up the Belgrade skyline. <br><br>Human Rights Watch in New York sharply criticised the attack in April last year. It rejected claims by General Wesley Clark, then Nato's supreme commander, and British ministers that the building was a "legitimate military target". Amnesty International also condemned the attack as unlawful and said it constituted a war crime. <br><br>Nato governments say the building was used to pass information to Serb military units in Kosovo and to promote Serb propaganda. <br><br>Another precise target was one floor of a building in Pristina housing the Yugoslav interior ministry police. <br><br>Meanwhile it emerged that the families of Serbs killed in the missile attack on the building are suing the television station's bosses and Nato for damages. <br><br>"We think they are both equally responsible and both sides are running away from their guilt," said Zanka Stojanovic, whose son Nebojsa was killed during the attack. <br><br>The families say the state television company "violated the law by not allowing employees to go into shelters during an air raid". <br></font><br></p> <a name="newsitem964089845,2951,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>NATO chief not aware of any Montenegro coup plan</center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000">SARAJEVO, July 19 (Reuters) - NATO Secretary-General George Robertson said on Wednesday he had no information that Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic had planned a military coup in Montenegro, but he repeated warnings to him not to intervene. Robertson was asked what might have been going on when the Montenegrin news agency reported that Yugoslav army units had been on alert and might have intervened during a recent parliament session there. "I have no information about a military coup in Montenegro and I"ve made it very clear on a number of occasions as Secretary-General of NATO that we watch with care and concern what is going on in Montenegro," he replied. Robertson was speaking to a news conference during a visit to Bosnia to review international efforts to promote stability after the 1992-5 war that accompanied the former Yugoslav republic"s split from the former Socialist federation. Montenegro is now the only republic left with Serbia in Yugoslavia and its leadership has threatened to call a referendum on independence if its calls for reform are ignored. "President Milosevic should be aware that the international community is also concerned about what is happening and the right of (Montenegrin) President (Milo) Djukanovic to be able to fulfil the mandate given to him by the Montenegrin people," he said. Djukanovic"s government has accused Yugoslav army commanders of violating the official neutrality of the military with statements slamming his links with the West and accusing him of separatism. Last week the Montenegrin news agency Montena-Fax quoted an army source as saying military units in the smaller, coastal republic would have taken over the parliament building if the legislature had decided to declare independence. The chamber was debating how to respond to constitutional amendments introduced by Milosevic"s government in Belgrade that Montenegrin officials said destroyed Yugoslavia in its current form. In the end it decided only to ignore the changes. A spokesman for the Yugoslav army on Tuesday rejected the report of a coup plan as "notorious lies," saying it would not do such a thing at any price. <br></font><br></p> <a name="newsitem964089824,52822,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>Montenegro To Wait Before Calling Referendum</center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000">By Alexandra Poolos<br><br>The Yugoslav republic of Montenegro faced another blow with the recent constitutional changes that will allow Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to seek another term. NCA's Alexandra Poolos interviews Montenegrin Prime Minister Filip Vujanovic about how the republic's pro-Western leadership plans to respond. <br><br>Prague, 19 July 2000 (RFE/RL) -- Montenegro said today that its pro-Western president will not run against Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic if an election is called later this year. <br><br>In a telephone interview with RFE/RL, Montenegrin Prime Minister Filip Vujanovic said that President Milo Djukanovic intends to keep his office. <br><br>"No, absolutely not. He is the president of Montenegro, entrusted by the citizens and he is fulfilling his public mandate, which he has said many times." <br><br>The denial comes in the wake of Yugoslav constitutional changes that will allow Milosevic to seek another presidential term. It is a rebuke to recent statements by Serbian opposition leaders that Djukanovic is the best candidate to run against Milosevic. Serbian opposition leaders have been scrambling since the amendments, as they confront the fact that with no viable candidate to run against Milosevic, he could easily win another term. <br><br>Djukanovic and his lawmakers denounced the constitutional changes, which diminish Montenegro's role in the Yugoslav parliament. They say the moves are destroying the Yugoslav federation and pushing Montenegro to independence. But although Montenegrin lawmakers voted not to take part in the changes, including the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections, they have balked at taking decisive action -- namely calling for a referendum on independence. <br><br>Some of Djukanovic's political advisers argue that it is vital to prepare the ground for a referendum before federal elections are officially announced. But support for such a poll is far from universal in Montenegro. Even Djukanovic's Democratic Party of Socialists is split on whether to call a referendum, largely because Western governments are opposed to it and because it could provide a pretext for Yugoslav military intervention. <br><br>Serbian opposition leaders met with Montenegrin officials in the Montenegrin coastal resort of Sveti Stefan last week. Both sides agreed that stability in Montenegro depends on a democratic Serbia and the removal of Milosevic from power. But they have yet to come up with a common strategy. Instead, they seem paralyzed with patience. <br><br>Vujanovic told RFE/RL that the tiny republic must wait to see what happens in Serbia. <br><br>"We have no idea when we will call a referendum. We are expecting the situation in Serbia to develop democratically, and then we'll see what Montenegro's position looks like, whether we will make an agreement with Serbian opposition to save the federal state on the principles of state, national and civic equality with the others. And if not, then we will call a referendum." <br><br>But as Montenegro continues to wait, Milosevic is moving steadily forward with plans for elections. Belgrade has already set in motion logistical preparations for elections at Yugoslav Army bases in districts controlled by the pro-Milosevic Socialist People's Party of Montenegro. <br><br>As the federal crisis continuing to percolate in Yugoslavia, Montenegro may have to act soon or risk being acted upon.<br><br></font><br></p> <a name="newsitem964089800,33068,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>The New York Times: A Tito Grandchild Battles Nationalism's Excesses</center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000">By CARLOTTA GALL<br> <br><br>ARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina, July 19 -- Svetlana Broz stands out in the lobby of Sarajevo's hotel, an elegant blond woman out of place amid the men in suits, members of the hard-line nationalist Croatian party who are here for a conference. <br>Few appear to recognize her, but they would instantly recognize her name, for everyone in the former Yugoslavia knows her grandfather, Josip Broz, who as Tito was the Communist leader of Yugoslavia for 35 years, from the end of World War II until his death in 1980. <br><br>Ms. Broz, a confident, educated woman of 45, a cardiologist and a divorced mother of two, grew up in the Yugoslav capital, Belgrade, and worked at the Military Medical Academy. But in 1993, when war was tearing Bosnia apart, she began a personal crusade against the nationalism that has destroyed the country her grandfather created. <br><br>She left her home in Belgrade, and with her teenage daughter drove into Bosnia to offer her services in hospitals and clinics in the Serb-controlled areas. "I went because I refused to accept the indifference in Belgrade to what was happening in Bosnia, and because I could not accept that the Bosnians were another people," she said in an interview. "The people in Bosnia-Herzegovina were my people, and I had to do something." <br><br>Some days she would treat up to 100 people in a day, and she found that many of her patients wanted to tell her stories, not so much of the horrors they had experienced but of the gestures of goodness from people who were often on opposing sides in the war. These were tales little broadcast at the time, mainly because the media of all sides were so nationalistic, but also because even small deeds that could be construed as helpful to one's ethnic foes put good Samaritans in danger. <br><br>"So for some moments I put away my cardiological instruments and took up my dictaphone, and I started collecting stories," she said. "I started in 1993 at the most aggressive time when people were killing each other, yet people were prepared to talk of goodness." <br><br>She published the stories in a book, "Dobri Ljudi u Vremenu Zla" (Good People in Times of Evil), printed in the town of Banja Luka in Bosnia's Serbian entity in 1999. Already on its second print run of 5,000, it tells stories of the war from Serbs, Croats and Muslims equally. It remains unavailable in Serbia and Croatia, although she plans readings in Croatian resorts this summer. <br><br>A Croatian doctor helps Muslim prisoners of his own army, and later has to flee when Muslims overrun his town. A Serbian taxi driver in Sarajevo risks his life to ferry people around and bring food to those living under the siege by Serbian forces. The mixed village where Serbian and Muslim neighbors protected each other, as they did in World War II, and survived unscathed. <br><br>"It shows a message, that even in the worst period, every individual could make a choice and that there were a lot of people who remained human in such a time," Ms. Broz said. "People paid with their lives but did not accept the brutal behavior of their own nation." <br><br>Now living in Sarajevo and working on another book, this one about mixed marriages that still occurred during the war, Ms. Broz said she wanted to create a park in the Bosnian capital, once famed for its multiethnic diversity. Inspired by the Yad Vashem park in Jerusalem, this one would be dedicated to unsung heroes of the war, those who risked their lives to help people from the opposing side. <br><br>For Ms. Broz, the issue is fundamental. She acknowledges with a smile that she has no place to call home and is hard put to say which country she is from. Her father, Zarko Broz, was the eldest surviving son of Tito's first marriage to the Russian Pelagia Belousova, whom he met in Siberia during World War I. Tito himself was half Croatian and half Slovenian. <br><br>Her father fought in Russia in World War II, lost his right arm defending Moscow, and then came to Belgrade the day after it was liberated from Nazi forces in 1944. He accompanied his father to meetings with Churchill. He then joined the Yugoslav Interior Ministry, where he worked for the rest of his life. <br><br>Ms. Broz was the only child of his third marriage to a Czech doctor whose family originally came from Bosnia. "My answer is I am a cosmopolitan, and I call myself European since Yugoslavia disappeared," she said. She added that she feels no affinity to today's Yugoslavia -- consisting of Serbia and Montenegro, and ruled by Slobodan Milosevic. <br><br>"Emotionally and psychologically the whole of the former territory of Yugoslavia is my country, and no one can take that away from me, however many borders they put up in between," she said. She still has her home in Belgrade, and both her children are studying there, but she is now building a house on land that belongs to her mother's family, in Hadzici, a village 12 miles outside Sarajevo where she often spent holidays as a child. <br><br>Like many people of her generation, she looks back on the years before war destroyed the old Yugoslavia as halcyon days of harmony and prosperity, and she gives the credit to her grandfather, Tito. "I lived for 35 years in a country that was magical," she said. "So I believe in what I think was fundamental to his policies, that was living together." <br><br>She rejects the argument that the Communist slogans of brotherhood and unity were false or that suppressing ethnic differences prepared the ground for a nationalist explosion. She attributes the wars of the last decade rather to the calculated moves by politicians who used nationalism to break up the country. <br><br>She does, however, condemn the suppression of political freedom under Tito, who killed and imprisoned opponents and stamped out even slight expressions of what was deemed to be nationalism. As a democrat, Ms. Broz said, she cannot agree with the persecution of people for their ideas. Yet in the same breath, she wondered if it would not have been better if some dissidents, who became leading nationalist politicians, had remained in prison. "I am against political persecution, but when you look back, you can see that those people led to the evil that happened," she said. <br><br>She retains her harshest words for the intellectuals of Yugoslavia and members of her own medical profession who joined and even led the nationalist charge, like the Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, a former psychiatrist. <br><br>She described a dangerous confrontation during the Bosnian war with one of Dr. Karadzic's close associates, the head doctor of a hospital who ordered her arrest. <br><br>"He said I should write about the evil, not the good," she said. "He said there was no good Croat except a dead Croat, and no good Muslim except a dead one. I told him he was inhuman and a fascist, and I was ashamed to be carrying the same diploma as him -- we graduated from the same medical school." <br><br>When a warrant went out for her arrest, she turned herself in, but the policeman told her to carry on working. "It showed a policeman wasn't as bad as a doctor," she said. <br><br>She rules out a life in politics for herself. "I am a humanist, and my profession is completely different from politics," she said. "And anyway, there has been enough of that in my family." <br></font><br></p> <a name="newsitem963917026,85872,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>Serbian Orthodox Church blown up in Kosovo</center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000"><br><br>July 17, 2000<br>Web posted at: 10:28 AM EDT (1428 GMT)<br><br><br>PRISTINA, Yugoslavia (AP) -- An explosion ripped through a medieval Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo, flattening the structure, U.N. police said Monday. <br><br>The church of the Holy Prophet Elijah was located in the village of Pomazetin, just outside the Serb village of Kosovo Polje. The church was leveled in the Sunday night explosion, said Oleg Rubezhov, a U.N. police officer who patrols the area. <br><br>"It was destroyed to the basement," he said. <br><br>About 66 pounds of explosives were used in the 11:30 p.m. blast, peacekeepers said. Two people were seen running from the site shortly after the explosion. <br><br>The church was not under guard by NATO-led peacekeepers, U.N. police said. They said it had already been severely damaged during the war between ethnic Albanian separatists and the forces of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. <br><br>However, the private Beta and FoNet news agencies in Belgrade said in their reports that the church was first damaged last August in a fire or by an explosion. <br><br>The opposition Serbian Renewal Movement blamed the latest explosion on the peacekeeping force, called KFOR, saying its troops did nothing to prevent it in this heavily ethnic Albanian province. <br><br>"Members of KFOR know well enough that Albanian extremists systematically destroy Orthodox Christian churches, but they obviously do nothing to prevent them, which is proven by this latest crime," the party said. <br><br>Minority Serbs have faced daily attacks over the past year and Serb Orthodox monuments have been targeted by ethnic Albanian militants. The Beta news agency said 86 religious objects have been destroyed. <br><br>Beta said Pomazetin was an ethnically mixed village before Kosovo's 1998-99 war. Since the deployment of NATO-led peacekeepers in the province last year, Serb villagers have fled, fearing for their safety. <br><br></font><br></p> <a name="newsitem963916989,94042,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>French Troops Battle Angry Serbs</center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000"><br><br>Filed at 4:07 a.m. EDT<br><br><br>By The Associated Press<br>KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, Yugoslavia (AP) -- French troops fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of Serbs who massed around a U.N. police station to demand the release of a Serb arrested for allegedly burning cars, a French spokesman said Tuesday. <br><br>Four Serbs and two U.N. policemen were injured in the clash, which began about 11 p.m. Monday in the Serb part of this ethnically divided city, French Lt. Col. Philippe Eriau said. One of the policeman was hospitalized. <br><br>It was the second confrontation in less than a week between Serbs and peacekeepers in this northwestern Kosovo city, divided by the Ibar River into Serb and ethnic Albanian communities. <br><br>On Friday, four grenades were fired from the ethnic Albanian side, touching off about three hours of Serb protests, which ended without injuries. <br><br>The latest violence erupted hours before the arrival of NATO Secretary-General Lord Robertson and ambassadors of the NATO-member states for a firsthand look at the situation in Kosovo more than a year after the beginning of the NATO peacekeeping mission. <br><br>Robertson arrived early Tuesday and met the peacekeeping commander, Brig. Gen. Juan Ortuno of Spain. <br><br>The Kosovska Mitrovica clash occurred as the U.N. mission is trying to convince Serbs to register for municipal elections in October, the first internationally supervised balloting in Kosovo's history. <br><br>Most Serb leaders are resisting until the United Nations and NATO can guarantee their security and allow thousands of Serbs to return to Kosovo, which they fled after Yugoslav forces withdrew at the end of the 78-day bombing campaign in 1999. <br><br>The leader of the largest Serb community left in Kosovo has assured international officials that he will not stand in the way of Serbs who may want to register. However, Oliver Ivanovic said Monday that he did not believe many Serbs would sign up until the United Nations takes steps to allow more than 200,000 Serbs to return here. <br></font><br></p> <a name="newsitem963833603,81215,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>Montenegro More Visible at UN </center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000"><br><br>By NICOLE WINFIELD, Associated Press Writer <br><br>UNITED NATIONS (AP) - From his one-bedroom apartment in midtown Manhattan, Zeljko Perovic has begun a campaign to give Montenegro a greater voice at the United Nations, setting up a one-man ``mission'' and getting himself invited to U.N. meetings.<br><br>One of two republics that make up what is left of the former Yugoslavia, Montenegro has no independent legal status at the United Nations. Montenegro and Serbia are represented together by Belgrade's U.N. mission.<br><br>But with tensions between the two republics increasing - and heightened last week with constitutional changes that seek to reduce Montenegro's status - Montenegro is seeking to increase its own diplomatic visibility and garner support for its pro-Western cause.<br><br>``We have to protect our interests,'' said Perovic, Montenegro's self-proclaimed ``head of mission and U.N. liaison officer,'' in an interview Friday.<br><br>Montenegro is finding support in its campaign from the four former republics that separated from Belgrade in the early 1990s: Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.<br><br>On Friday, Slovenia circulated a second letter in three weeks on behalf of Montenegro to the Security Council, enclosing the text of a resolution adopted by the Montenegrin parliament rejecting the constitutional amendments enacted by the Yugoslav federal assembly.<br><br>The amendments aim to concentrate power in the hands of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic while reducing Montenegro's status. One paves the way for Milosevic's re-election, the other says parliament's upper house will be chosen by popular vote, curtailing the influence of Montenegro's parliament, which is dominated by Milosevic's opponents.<br><br>Slovenia's deputy U.N. ambassador, Samuel Zbogar, said Friday that his government had decided to help Montenegro gain greater visibility at the United Nations because Belgrade wasn't representing its interests here.<br><br>That support includes circulating letters to U.N. ambassadors on behalf of Montenegro and inviting Perovic and other Montenegrin officials to the United Nations as ``guests'' of the Slovene mission.<br><br>Visitors to the non-public areas of the United Nations must be accredited to the organization or be escorted into the building as a ``guest'' of someone who is.<br><br>``They are the democratic light in Yugoslavia and you have to support that,'' Zbogar said in an interview.<br><br>Yugoslavia's representative at the United Nations, Vladislav Jovanovic, has bitterly complained about what he calls Slovenia's interference in Yugoslav internal affairs. He has also dismissed Montenegro's quest for official, or even unofficial, recognition at the organization.<br><br>``Parts of member states are not entitled to have any official or semi-official mission within the U.N. The appearance of one person claiming to represent Montenegro in the U.N. is totally private business and doesn't have anything to do with the U.N. membership,'' he said in an interview.<br><br>Indeed, as a part of Yugoslavia, Montenegro cannot be recognized as an independent U.N. member state. It probably couldn't even get ``observer'' status, which has been granted to entities such as the Palestine Liberation Organization.<br><br>In their dispute with Milosevic's regime, Montenegro officials have talked of breaking from Belgrade, but they have stopped short of making a direct move for independence.<br><br>Similarly, Montenegro's moves at the United Nations have not been presented as a step toward statehood. But Zbogar and Perovic said they were looking into ways to allow Montenegro to have some type of other accreditation at the United Nations - or at least be given the same type of access as Belgrade's U.N. representatives.<br><br>Belgrade's envoys don't have full rights at the United Nations. In 1992, they were stripped of some membership rights following the independence of four of its six republics. The United States, Britain and the four former Yugoslav republics have demanded that Belgrade apply for membership as a new country.<br><br>Belgrade has so far refused, arguing that the independence of its republics didn't affect the ``continuity'' of the country.<br><br>Last month, U.S. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke raised Yugoslavia's disputed status as one reason for limiting its access to U.N. meetings. He successfully got the Security Council to block Jovanovic from participating in a council debate on the Balkans, primarily on grounds that Milosevic and other key leaders have been indicted for war crimes.<br><br>Montenegro's foreign minister, Branko Lukovac, attended the Security Council debate as a guest of Slovenia, Zbogar said. <br><br></font><br></p> <a name="newsitem963833583,11352,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>Report: Yugo's Milosevic Controls Bosnian Serb Army </center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000"><br><br>SARAJEVO (Reuters) - Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic has more control over the military of Bosnia's Serb republic than its Western-leaning government of Prime Minister Milorad Dodik, a U.S. official was quoted as saying Sunday.<br><br>``Milosevic in this moment definitely has bigger influence over the VRS (Bosnian Serb army) than Dodik,'' an unnamed senior official of the State Department was quoted as saying by the Sarajevo daily Dnevni Avaz.<br><br>He said he could not elaborate on the exact level of Milosevic's control over the VRS. ``But the ability to determine their wages, appoint and dismiss officers gives him for sure a strong influence over the army.''<br><br>``He can use the army to block whatever Dodik initiates,'' he said, adding that Milosevic also influenced Bosnian Serb intelligence services.<br><br>Dodik, who in 1998 ousted hard-liners loyal to Bosnian Serb wartime leader and indicted war criminal Radovan Karadzic, is loved by the West for his fierce opposition to Milosevic and a commitment to economic reforms.<br><br>But the hard-liners, who were backed by Milosevic during the Balkan country's 1992-95 war, remained strong. The Serb Democratic Party (SDS), formed by Karadzic in 1900, was the biggest party in the Serb republic after April's local vote.<br><br>The 1995 Dayton peace treaty split Bosnia into two highly-autonomous entities: the Muslim-Croat federation and the Serb republic.<br><br>They have their own parliaments, governments, police and military, which in the federation has a Muslim and a Croat part.<br><br>The State Department official said that Bosnia's separate militaries should become one in future: ``But as long as these relations exist between Belgrade and the VRS, the building of a single Bosnian army could not be expected.''<br><br>Yugoslavia, now consisting of the Milosevic-controlled Serbia and reform-minded Montenegro, is under a Western wall of sanctions imposed for its role in the bloody disintegration of the former socialist Yugoslav federation throughout the 1990s.<br><br>Milosevic himself has been indicted by the U.N. tribunal for the war crimes committed against ethnic Albanians in Serbia's southern province in Kosovo. <br></font><br></p> <a name="newsitem963833560,35952,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>The New York Times: Aide Takes Stock of U.N. in Kosovo</center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000">By STEVEN ERLANGER<br> <br> <br><br>PRISTINA, Kosovo -- Bernard Kouchner, the emotional chief of the United Nations administration in Kosovo, has made it through a tumultuous year. <br>Last November, as the province's water and power were almost nonexistent, the West was not providing the money or personnel it promised and the cold was as profound and bitter as the ethnic hatred, Mr. Kouchner was in a depression so deep that his staff thought he might quit. <br><br>He spoke darkly then of "how hard it is to change the human soul," of the quick fatigue of Western leaders who prosecuted the war with Serbia over Kosovo and had no interest in hearing about its problematic aftermath, of the impenetrability of the local Serbs and Albanians, with their tribal, feudal passions. <br><br>"I've never heard an Albanian joke," he said sadly, looking around his dreary office, the former seat of Serbian power here. "Do they have a sense of humor?" <br><br>Now, in a blistering summer, Mr. Kouchner's mood has improved. A French physician who founded Doctors Without Borders because he became fed up with international bureaucracy, he is now an international bureaucrat, sometimes uneasy in his skin. He still goes up and down with the vagaries of this broken province, with its ramshackle infrastructure, chaotic traffic and lack of real law or justice. And without question, he admits, some of those problems can be laid at his door. <br><br>"Of course I'm not the perfect model of a bureaucrat and an administrator," he said. "But we have succeeded in the main thing": stopping the oppression of Kosovo's Albanians by Belgrade, bringing them home and letting them restart their lives in freedom. <br><br>And yet, he said, "I have not succeeded in human terms" with a traumatized population. "They still hate one another deeply." <br><br>He paused, and added: "Here I discovered hatred deeper than anywhere in the world, more than in Cambodia or Vietnam or Bosnia. Usually someone, a doctor or a journalist, will say, 'I know someone on the other side.' But here, no. They had no real relationship with the other community." <br><br>The hatred, he suggested, can be daunting and has plunged him and his colleagues into despair. "Sometimes we got tired and exhausted, and we didn't want a reward, not like that, but just a little smile," he said wanly. "I'm looking for moments of real happiness, but you know just now I'm a bit dry." But he is proud that everyone has persisted nonetheless. <br><br>As for himself, he said, "my only real success is to set up this administration," persuading Albanian and some Serbian leaders to cooperate with foreign officials and begin to share some executive responsibility. <br><br>When the head of the local Serbian Orthodox Church, Bishop Kyr Artemije, and the leaders of perhaps half of Kosovo's Serbs decided to join as observers, "we were very happy then," he said. "We were jumping in the air. We believed then that we were reaching the point of no return." <br><br>But even those Serbs left the executive council set up by Mr. Kouchner, only to return after securing written promises for better security that have prompted the Albanian Hashim Thaci, former leader of the separatist Kosovo Liberation Army, to suspend his own participation. <br><br>Bishop Artemije's chief aide, the Rev. Sava Janjic, said carefully: "Kouchner has not been serious in his promises, and the efforts to demilitarize the Kosovo Liberation Army are very inefficient. But he is sincere, and this written document is important on its own." <br><br>A senior Albanian politician said Mr. Kouchner was "the wrong man for the job," which he said required more forcefulness and less empathy. "After a year, you still can't talk of the rule of law." Still, the politician said, "Kouchner's instincts are good -- he knew he had to co-opt the Albanians, that the U.N. couldn't run the place alone." <br><br>Less successful, most officials and analysts interviewed here said, is Mr. Kouchner's sometimes flighty, sometimes secretive management of the clumsy international bureaucracy itself in the year since Secretary General Kofi Annan sent him here to run the United Nations administration in Kosovo. <br><br>Alongside the bureaucrats are the 45,000 troops of the NATO-led Kosovo Force, known as KFOR, responsible to their home governments, not to Mr. Kouchner or even to the force's commander. And while Mr. Kouchner was able to persuade the former commander, Gen. Klaus Reinhardt of Germany, to do more to help the civilian side, they were both less successful with Washington, Paris, Bonn, Rome and London. <br><br>The affliction known here as "Bosnian disease" -- with well-armed troops unwilling to take risks that might cause them harm -- has settled into Kosovo, say Mr. Kouchner's aides and even some senior officers of the United Nations force. <br><br>Consequently, some serious problems -- like the division of the northern town of Mitrovica into Serbian and Albanian halves that also marks the informal partition of Kosovo -- appear likely not to be solved but simply "managed," no matter how much they embolden Belgrade or undermine the confidence of Kosovo Albanians in the good will of their saviors. It was on the bridge dividing Mitrovica -- not in Paris -- that Mr. Kouchner chose to spend his New Year's Eve, making a hopeful toast, so far in vain, to reconciliation. <br><br>Nor will the peacekeeping troops do much to stop organized crime or confront, in a serious fashion, organized Albanian efforts to drive the remaining Serbs out of Kosovo and prevent the return of those who fled, the officials say. <br><br>The discovery last month of some 70 tons of arms, hidden away by the former Kosovo Liberation Army and not handed over as promised to the peacekeepers, took no one here by surprise. <br><br>"It was a success," Mr. Kouchner said, "not a surprise." <br><br>In fact, senior United Nations and NATO officials say, the existence of the arms cache was known and the timing of the discovery was a message to the former rebels, who had recently used some of the weapons, to stop their organized attacks on Serbs and moderate Albanian politicians. <br><br>But few here expect the arrest of former rebel commanders who are widely suspected of involvement in corruption or political violence. The reaction may be volatile, officials say: troops could be attacked and the shaky political cooperation with the Albanians undermined. <br><br>Is the United Nations peacekeeping force too timid? Mr. Kouchner paused and shrugged. "Of course," he finally said. "But what can we do? Everything in the international community works by compromise." <br><br>Foreign policemen are also too timid and take too long with investigations that never seem to finish, Mr. Kouchner says. But at least now, more than 3,100 of the 4,800 international police officers he has been promised -- even if not the 6,000 he wanted -- are here, and a Kosovo police academy is turning out graduates. <br><br>One of Mr. Kouchner's biggest regrets is the slow arrival of the police, which bred a culture of impunity. More than 500 murders have taken place in the year since the United Nations force took complete control of the province, and no one has yet been convicted. <br><br>There are still only four international judges and prosecutors in a province where violence and intimidation mean neither Serbs nor Albanians can administer fair justice. <br><br>What Mr. Kouchner says depresses him most is the persistence of ethnic violence even against the innocent and the caregivers. One of his worst moments came last winter, he said, when a Serbian obstetrician who cared for women of all ethnic groups was murdered by Albanians in Gnjilane, in the sector of Kosovo patrolled by American units of the United Nations force. <br><br>"He was a doctor!" Mr. Kouchner exclaimed, still appalled. "It was the reverse of everything we did with Doctors Without Borders." <br><br>While Mr. Kouchner says he has put himself alongside "the new victims," the minority Serbs, he carries with him his visits to the mass graves of slain Albanians. <br><br>"I'm angry that world opinion has changed so quickly," he said. "They were aware before of the beatings and the killings of Albanians, but now they say, 'There is ethnic cleansing of the Serbs.' But it is not the same -- it's revenge." <br><br>He does savor the international military intervention on moral and humane grounds. "I don't know if we will succeed in Kosovo," he said. "But already we've won. We stopped the oppression of the Albanians of Kosovo." <br><br>Mr. Kouchner paused, lost in thought and memory. "It was my dream," he said softly. "My grandparents died in Auschwitz," he said, opening a normally closed door. "If only the international community was brave enough just to bomb the railways there," which took the Nazis' victims to the death camp. "But all the opportunities were missed." <br><br>That, he said, is why he became involved, early on, in Biafra, the region whose secession touched off the Nigerian civil war of 1967-70, in which perhaps one million people died. And it is what drives him in Kosovo. <br><br>Mr. Kouchner, now 60, holds to the healing power of time. He points to the reconciliation now of Germany and Israel, and of France and Germany. <br><br>"Working with Klaus Reinhardt is a good memory," he said. "He called me his twin brother." They both came of age in the Europe of 1968. "I'm a Frenchman and he's a German," and 50 years ago, he said, "no one could imagine this." <br><br>"It's much easier to make war than peace," Mr. Kouchner said. "To make peace takes generations, a deep movement and a change of the spirit." He smiled, looked away. "It's why I sometimes want to believe in God." <br></font><br></p> <a name="newsitem963657853,28600,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>Albright calls Djukanovic from M.East talks</center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000">THURMONT, Md. (Reuters) - Secretary of State Madeleine Albright called Montenegro"s pro-Western President Milo Djukanovic Thursday to tell him he could expect more cash this year to help him in his democratization effort, a U.S. spokesman said. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters she had called him from Camp David, where she was leading Middle East peace talks while President Clinton took about eight hours off to attend prior engagements. They discussed developments in the region, including changes in the constitution introduced by Belgrade and rejected by Montenegro. The rejection sparked a sharp increase in tension between President Slobodan Milosevic and the Montenegrin leadership. "She was also able to tell him that after we consult with Congress, we will be able to provide $16.5 million of additional assistance to Montenegro for democratization and economic reform during the course of this year," Boucher said. If approved, this would bring total U.S. aid to Serbia"s sister republic in the Yugoslav federation to $77.1 million in fiscal year 2000, a U.S. official said. Boucher said Albright and Djukanovic had also agreed to consult more in the future on upcoming federal elections. "The main thrust of the phone call was to express her support for democracy in Montenegro and appreciation for the moderate policies that Djukanovic has been following," Boucher said. More than a year after NATO"s 78-day bombing campaign against Milosevic"s forces, he remains in power and the United States and its allies hopes eventually to unseat him by supporting his opposition. Montenegro"s Montena-fax news agency reported Wednesday that Yugoslav army units stationed in Montenegro were on alert last week and might have carried out a military coup in the republic if its leadership had declared independence. Djukanovic has distanced himself from the Belgrade-based Yugoslav federal government and has accused the army of interfering in Montenegrin politics in support of pro-Milosevic forces. He wants to escape 10 years of international isolation resulting from Yugoslavia"s role in a string of Balkan wars. <br></font><br></p> <a name="newsitem963657836,34554,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>Yugoslav army chief visits units in Montenegro</center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000">BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (Reuters) - The head of the Yugoslav army and his aides visited units in Montenegro Friday as Serbian opposition parties met with the pro-Western coastal republic"s leadership to discuss a constitutional crisis. "Chief of Staff General Nebojsa Pavkovic visited the zone of responsibility of the Second Army, Navy and part of the Air force and Air Defense of the Yugoslav Army," the state news agency Tanjug quoted a statement from the General Staff as saying. A meeting of the Chiefs of Staff in the Montenegrin capital Podgorica was attended by commanders of strategic groupings whose units are stationed in the region, the statement said. "The level of combat readiness of these commands and units was assessed and concrete instructions given for planned activities in the coming period," it added. The statement gave no hint as to what those activities might be. It followed a report by the Montenegrin news agency quoting an army source as saying army units were on alert in the republic last week and might have carried out a military coup if its leadership had declared independence. Yugoslav Prime Minister Momir Bulatovic, a Montenegrin protege of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, said Thursday reports of a possible attack by the army were untrue and accused the Montenegrin leadership of "sowing discord." Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic met Serbian opposition leaders Friday in the republic"s top Adriatic resort to discuss how to respond to constitutional changes introduced by Belgrade last week. The changes, seen by critics as an illegal bid by Milosevic to cling to power, cut the Montenegrin leadership out of federal decision-making, prompting it to declare the Yugoslav federation dead in its current form. On Friday Djukanovic and the Serb opposition pledged to build a new union of the two republics despite attempts by "destructive political groups to halt progress and to keep our country isolated from the world for ever in order to preserve their own privileges." <br></font><br></p> <a name="newsitem963657820,41970,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>Milosevic foes seek joint strategy in Montenegro</center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000">SVETI STEFAN, Yugoslavia (Reuters) - Montenegrin officials and Serbian opposition leaders agreed Friday to work toward creating a new union of the two republics following a crisis over constitutional changes. A mildly worded joint statement, read out by Montenegrin Prime Minister Filip Vujanovic after several hours of talks in the seaside resort of Sveti Stefan, made only oblique references to Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and Yugoslavia itself. The future of the Yugoslav federation, now made up of just two of the original six republics, was thrown into doubt last week by changes to the Yugoslav constitution which critics saw as designed to let Milosevic stay in power for eight more years. The Montenegrin parliament rejected the changes, saying they stripped the republic of its equal status in the federation and destroyed federal Yugoslavia in its current form. "Democratic forces in Montenegro and Serbia condemn in the strongest possible terms and resolutely reject the latest constitutional changes," said the statement, drawn up amid a sharp increase in tensions between the two republics. Friday, army commanders headed by Chief of Staff Gen. Nebojsa Pavkovic met in the Montenegrin capital to "assess the level of combat readiness and give instructions for concrete tasks in the coming period," the state news agency Tanjug said, without elaborating. FEARS OF CLASHES IF REFERENDUM GOES AHEAD The West and many in Montenegro fear possible clashes between the republic"s police and supporters of Milosevic backed by Yugoslav army units if Montenegrin leaders go ahead with threats to call a referendum on independence. The Serbian opposition is eager for powerful Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic to back its struggle against Milosevic, hoping to regain ground and support lost in recent years as a result of its divisions. "Our main common goal is to topple Milosevic and his regime. And we are here to agree how to do this and how to reach basic principles of the joint state of Serbia and Montenegro," Serbian Democratic Party leader Zoran Djindjic earlier told reporters. But Djukanovic and his officials -- who face pressure from pro-independence forces in their coalition government -- are circumspect about how much they can get involved in what they see as Serbia"s internal affairs. The seven-point statement seemed to reflect that. It called for changes of the political system in Serbia, rapid economic development of Serbia and Montenegro, and changes to the union of the two republics, without mentioning Yugoslavia by name. It said democratic forces in the two republics would work together to establish "a stable, successful and European union of Montenegro and Serbia," making clear that such a union would involve a substantial level of self-rule for the republics. They would do this "regardless of attempts by destructive political groups to halt progress and to keep our country isolated from the world for ever in order to preserve their own privileges," the statement said. It was a clear reference to Milosevic and his allies, but much more oblique than usually used by the two groups. The Montenegrin leadership has been praised by the West for not taking any rash countermeasures after the constitutional changes cut it out of federal decision-making, and after strong criticism by the Yugoslav army, which has units in the republic. Democratic Party of Serbia leader Vojislav Kostunica said the two sides had also discussed whether they should boycott federal elections as a result of the changes but did not take any final decision, independent news agency Beta said. <br></font><br></p> <a name="newsitem963657799,9429,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>Yugo neighbours concerned over Milosevic moves</center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000">SKOPJE, July 14 (Reuters) - Yugoslavia"s Balkan neighbours said on Friday constitutional changes allowing President Slobodan Milosevic to remain in power could destabilise the whole region. Foreign ministers of Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey, Romania, Macedonia and ministerial officials from Croatia and Bosnia issued a statement after meeting at the Macedonian resort of Okhrid. "We are deeply concerned over the recent revision of the Yugoslav constitution which has the clear objective of prolonging the mandate in office of the current president and entails serious consequences for the country and for stability and security in the region," they said. The ministers also expressed concern "over the continued pressure from the current Yugoslav regime" on Montenegro. "This is the voice of the region, the voice for solving the problems by working together and helping the region," Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou told reporters. The constitutional changes allow Milosevic to seek a new period in office at the ballot box when his present term expires in mid-2001. They also introduce a direct vote for the upper house of the federal parliament, bypassing the Montenegrin assembly. The Montenegrin parliament rejected the amendments which sharply increased tension between Milosevic and the independence-minded leadership of Montenegro, Serbia"s junior partner in the Yugoslav federation. Montenegrin officials and Serbian opposition leaders agreed earlier on Friday to develop joint tactics against Milosevic. <br></font><br></p> <a name="newsitem963657778,39675,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>ANALYSIS-EU strategy seeks to bypass Milosevic</center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000">BRUSSELS, July 14 (Reuters) - Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic once told some U.S. visitors he wanted nothing to do with foreign investment -- let a little in and before you knew it, it was "all over the place, like rabbits," he said. A quaint slant on economics combined with an iron grip on power already offered small hope of a miracle conversion to open markets and democracy. Now a move by Milosevic to lock up the leadership for eight more years may have quashed it for good. Milosevic abroad would face arrest on charges of inciting war crimes in the conflicts over Yugoslavia"s breakup, a predicament that some believe gives him nothing to lose. Faced now with a "president-for-life" in the path of their toughest project, the architects of European Union strategy for the Western Balkans are redoubling their efforts. Their aim is to dispel a Serbian "laager" mentality that the rest of Europe barely comprehends, to show there is another way. Most of the EU"s 15 members believe sanctions against Yugoslavia are failing to deliver. They see much more mileage in trade with its neighbours, grass-roots contacts in Serbia itself, and the prospect of EU membership. KEY PLAYERS Stabilising the Balkans is the key goal of EU Foreign and Security Affairs chief Javier Solana and Commissioner for External Relations Chris Patten, and a priority for the French presidency of the EU over the next six months. Patten reckons some 17 billion euro (dollars) of European taxpayers" money has been spent since 1991 in a bid to bring the Western Balkans into the European mainstream. He wants results. The former Yugoslav republics of Croatia, Macedonia and Bosnia all show signs of progress. Slovenia is a candidate for early EU membership. Albania is in the hands of reformers. But Kosovo is a fragile protectorate, Western-leaning Montenegro is on a political razor"s edge and Serbia is defiant. "There can be no lasting solution...without Serbia -- 10 million people, crucial geographically, potentially the most productive economy," Patten told a London conference. "But for now, Serbia drifts on isolated and alone while the rest of Europe passes it by." China and, more ambiguously, Russia remain friends of Belgrade. But its links to immediate neighbours are sorely frayed. SQUEEZE OR RELAX? The EU has cut off travel visas to key backers of the Milosevic regime, black-listed firms and institutions that fund it, and "white-listed" those who show independence. It is trying to foster an embattled independent media and has alternately badgered and feted a chronically divided political opposition. The EU supplied heating fuel last winter to Serbian cities run by anti-Milosevic councils. Now it plans to help their schools, with blackboards, books and other basics. But all these efforts in support of democratic change have not been enough. Yugoslavia is again entering "a particularly dangerous period," Solana told EU foreign ministers on Monday. "Milosevic, having lost much of his popular support, is desperately clinging to power," he said. "He now appears to be aiming to consolidate his regime through elections this autumn or next year. As he cannot hope to win free and fair elections he will make sure they are neither." GET OUT THE REFROM VOTE With municipal elections due in Kosovo, Albania and Macedonia in October and November, a legislative ballot in Bosnia in November and both local and federal elections due in Yugoslavia by year"s end, the potential power of the ballot box will be in the spotlight. A flawed election in ethnic Albanian-dominated Kosovo, where the remaining Serbs are too fearful of violence to take part, could wreck the EU"s best intentions. And as Solana acknowledged, a constitutional showdown between Belgrade and Montenegro "could easily trigger a new crisis." But results favouring reformers would bolster Serbia"s opposition and raise the profile of a ring of stable and increasingly prosperous democracies getting rapidly closer to the EU, around Milosevic"s isolated regime. The EU Stabilisation and Association Agreements on offer to Macedonia and Croatia, and later Albania and Bosnia, "are a reform agenda in themselves," in Patten"s words. On Monday the EU sets out to further deepen ties with Yugoslavia"s civil society, linking opposition mayors from Serbia, Kosovo and Montenegro with the mayors of major European cities and key non-governmental organisations. On a grander scale, a regional summit initiated by France and due to be held in Croatia in November, with Yugoslavia left out, will also show "what a difference fresh, decent and sensible leaders can make very fast," as Patten put it. Meanwhile the European Commission proposes to open up the EU market to Balkan trade, in a one-sided liberalisation that would open markets to products from Bosnia, Croatia, Albania and Macedonia. The one-year-old Balkan Stability Pact has started infrastructure projects for the region, including major roads to improve links in Albania, Kosovo and Macedonia. Pact coordinator Bodo Hombach meets his counterparts from the region in Brussels on Monday to urge them to do more, for themselves and each other, to promote cooperation and build institutions, such as a functioning customs service. <br></font><br></p> <a name="newsitem963398062,74141,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>Montenegro Nearer Independence Than Ever</center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000"><br><br>DUBROVNIK, Jul 12, 2000 -- (Reuters) Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic said on Tuesday his republic was closer than ever to calling a referendum on independence and urged the West to help avoid a military conflict with Serbia.<br><br>"Unfortunately, Belgrade's irresponsible behavior brings us closer to that option (of calling a referendum) every day," Djukanovic told reporters after meeting his counterparts from Croatia, Slovenia and the Czech Republic.<br><br>"Today we are closer to becoming an independent state than we were yesterday," he added.<br><br>Western leaders have cautioned Montenegro against calling an independence referendum, fearful that it could lead to a new conflict in the Balkans.<br><br>But the Western-leaning reformist Montenegrin president said the international community's "policies and honor" were at stake over Montenegro and called for Western help.<br><br>Czech President Vaclav Havel urged NATO to stage a show of force to prevent Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic from using his troops to crack down on Montenegro.<br><br>"Apart from political options, there are alternatives, which consist of a demonstration of force," he said, adding that he was speaking as a leader of a NATO member country.<br><br>"The international community looked on events (in former Yugoslavia) with surprise and abhorrence and reacted too late. It should not be repeated a fifth time," he said in reference to bloody conflicts in Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo which followed Yugoslavia's disintegration.<br><br>PATIENCE RUNNING OUT<br><br>The four presidents, who also included Croatia's Stipe Mesic and Slovenia's Milan Kucan, backed the Montenegrin parliament's recent decision to boycott federal elections.<br><br>Montenegro rejected fresh changes to the Yugoslav constitution under which the federal president - currently Milosevic - and the upper chamber of parliament would be directly elected, thereby bypassing Montenegrin parliament.<br><br>The changes would enable Milosevic, indicted for war crimes by a UN tribunal, to extend his rule for another mandate.<br><br>Djukanovic told reporters the constitutional changes effectively destroyed the Yugoslav federation and Montenegro might now have to fend for itself.<br><br>"We have been patient out of respect for the world's wish not to stir things up and because we wanted to democratize the country. But there are limits to our patience as well," he said.<br><br>"Montenegro is not going to sacrifice its future so that the dictator in Belgrade can rule forever."<br><br>Djukanovic, who has threatened a referendum for almost a year but held back from naming a date, said Montenegro would be "very careful" in choosing the right moment and would exercise maximum restraint.<br><br>"We shall do everything we can to avoid a new conflict, but it is not only up to Montenegro...If there is a conflict we shall be able to defend ourselves."<br><br>The four presidents signed a joint statement saying the latest events in Yugoslavia were seriously threatening democracy and putting Montenegro at a disadvantage within the federation.<br><br>The statement also defended Montenegro's right to self-determination.<br></font><br></p> <a name="newsitem963398045,13217,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>LA Times: Montenegro Says Federation Defunct </center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000"><br><br>From Times Wire Reports<br><br>Montenegro's pro-Western president, angry at constitutional changes passed last week by Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to strengthen his power, says Yugoslavia no longer exists. Yugoslavia, once a federation that included six Balkan republics, has in recent years consisted only of Montenegro and Serbia. But Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic said that with the latest federal constitutional changes, his republic "has practically left the constitutional and legal system of Yugoslavia." He said Montenegro will not take part in federal elections envisaged by Milosevic for this autumn. <br></font><br></p> <a name="newsitem963398013,97310,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>Aerial Surveillance in Kosovo </center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000"><br><br>By ROBERT H. REID, Associated Press Writer <br><br>PODUJEVO, Yugoslavia (AP) - On a moonlit night, British soldiers on a hilltop near this northeastern Kosovo town peer into screens, watching vehicles and people moving about dozens of miles away as clearly as if it were day.<br><br>Along with German and American forces, 22 Battery of the 32 Royal Artillery Regiment, based in Larkhar, England, operates one of several unmanned airborne surveillance systems available to NATO-led peacekeepers in Kosovo.<br><br>The British Phoenix system, like its U.S. and German counterparts, allows the NATO-led Kosovo Force to watch for violations of the June 1999 agreement, under which international troops replaced Yugoslav soldiers and police following the 78-day Allied bombing campaign of Yugoslavia.<br><br>British officers refused to say whether the Phoenix, an aluminum-colored aircraft with a 15-foot wingspan that looks like a giant model plane, is used along the control zone that separates Kosovo from the rest of Serbia.<br><br>Traveling at 70 mph at an altitude of about 2,300 feet, the Phoenix is mounted with cameras that send back real time video from as far as 1.2 miles from the plane itself, a capability that could be used to keep track of any Yugoslav forces near the boundary.<br><br>Since the pictures are real-time, the images can alert troops on the ground to suspicious activity, such as ethnic Albanian extremists trying to transport illegal weapons by night. The cameras can make out individuals on the ground but not their faces.<br><br>Crews operating from a truck at a remote hillside about three miles from the boundary with Serbia can track the Phoenix's location and provide precise grid coordinates of any suspicious activity.<br><br>Maj. Sebastian Heath, commander of 22 Battery, said the real-time nature of the system means ground troops can respond instantly. Heath said the Phoenix was used during last month's NATO raids on secret ethnic Albanian weapons stockpiles in central Kosovo, which NATO commanders described as the biggest illegal weapons cache uncovered since the end of fighting last year.<br><br>``We could see them moving about so that we could say 'in that building there are people you need to get your hands on,''' Heath said.<br><br>NATO obtained mixed results from unmanned surveillance aircraft during the Kosovo war. Yugoslavia reported, and the alliance confirmed, that a number were brought down by ground fire.<br><br>Sensors on the Lynx or Gazelle helicopters are believed to be more detailed than those on the Phoenix.<br><br>In Kosovo, however, where the threat of hostile fire is minimal, the aircraft expands NATO's ability to keep watch and serves as a deterrent to those seeking to violate the peace agreement.<br><br>During a visit to the unit during a night operation Tuesday, reporters could see vehicles traveling down a darkened road west of Pristina as well as people crossing a field on foot.<br><br>``I enjoy it,'' said Bombadier Andrew Friendship, a 12-year veteran whose job is to track the aircraft's course. ``We had an old drone system before which only produced pictures after two hours. This is instantaneous, live.'' <br></font><br></p> <a name="newsitem963311363,60741,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>Montenegro's president says Yugoslavia no longer exists</center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000"><br> <br>PODGORICA, Yugoslavia (AP) _ Montenegro"s pro-Western president, angry at constitutional changes passed last week by Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic"s government, said Monday that Yugoslavia no longer exists. <br>Yugoslavia, once a federation that included a half-dozen Balkan republics, has in recent years consisted only of Montenegro and its dominant partner, Serbia. But Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic said that with the latest federal constitutional changes _ and Montenegro"s decision to ignore them _ the republic "has practically left the constitutional and legal system of Yugoslavia." <br><br>He said Montenegro will not take part in federal elections envisaged by Milosevic for next autumn. <br><br>"It is evident that Yugoslavia no longer exists," Djukanovic said. "Instead of the two equal states _ Montenegro and Serbia _ we have a one-state model." <br><br>He blamed Milosevic, saying the Serb leader destroyed the federation to preserve his own power and avoid war crime charges. <br><br>Milosevic was indicted by an international war crimes tribunal in the Hague for atrocities committed during his crackdown in Serbia"s Kosovo province, which triggered last year"s NATO bombing campaign. It is widely believed that staying in power would be his best guarantee against prosecution by the U.N. war crimes court. <br><br>"Milosevic"s dilemma was Yugoslavia or the Hague ... he chose destroying Yugoslavia," Djukanovic told a press conference. <br><br>The constitutional amendments passed Thursday by the Yugoslav assembly aim to concentrate power into the hands of the Yugoslav president while reducing Montenegro"s status. One paves the way for Milosevic"s re-election; the other says parliament"s upper house will be chosen by popular vote, making it harder for candidates from tiny Montenegro to win seats. <br><br>The Montenegrin government quickly rejected the amendments. Montenegro"s lawmakers backed that decision on Saturday. <br><br>Unlike most of the other former Yugoslav republics, Montenegro under Djukanovic has moved away from Belgrade without violence. It has won many of the trappings of a sovereign state, including a separate currency and police force and virtual control of the nation"s borders. <br><br>But there are fears that Milosevic _ who has started four Balkan wars _ might intervene militarily against Montenegro if it proclaims outright independence. His army remains the only federal institution still functioning in Montenegro. <br><br>Djukanovic said his government won"t provoke the Yugoslav army, but after holding an independence referendum, "will form a (Montenegrin) defense ministry and complete state sovereignty." </font><br></p> <a name="newsitem963310872,84401,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>Montenegro threatens Yugo poll boycott</center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000"><br>PODGORICA, Yugoslavia, July 10 (Reuters) - Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic said on Monday his republic would boycott federal elections after Belgrade"s move to extend the rule of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. <br>In hard-hitting remarks, the pro-Western leader of the coastal republic blasted the Belgrade government as a "dangerous dictatorial regime" and made clear Podgorica would not accept the constitutional changes or any elections under the new rules. <br><br>"Montenegro will not participate in such elections if they are organised under circumstances that have been announced with the newly-adopted amendments," he told a news conference. <br><br>Djukanovic said the amendments destroyed the Yugoslav federation in its current form. <br><br>But he stopped short of declaring independence from internationally shunned Yugoslavia, saying his republic, which has edged away from Belgrade, would not react "nervously and rashly" and give Milosevic a pretext for starting a new war. <br><br>Amendments to the Yugoslav constitution, passed by the Serbian-dominated federal parliament last week, allow Milosevic to win a new period in office at the ballot box when his present term expires in mid-2000. <br><br>Elections for the federal Yugoslav parliament are due by early November, and some analysts believe Milosevic may go for an early presidential vote at the same time. <br><br>NO RUSH FOR INDEPENDENCE <br><br>Montenegrin Prime Minister Filip Vujanovic said separately that Podgorica would not rush into an independence plebiscite because it might give Milosevic a reason to stir up trouble. <br><br>"We shall continue our policy of patience and soft steps to preserve peace and prevent Milosevic from creating another war for the sake of hanging on to his power," Vujanovic said. <br><br>Montenegro "shall not declare a referendum as long as conflict is possible and Milosevic could use it to create a crisis in Montenegro," he told reporters after meeting his Albanian and Macedonian counterparts in Durres, Albania. <br><br>Montenegro and much larger Serbia are the only republics still in Yugoslavia after Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia and Macedonia broke away during the early 1990s. <br><br>Under the amended Yugoslav constitution, not only the president but also the upper chamber of the federal parliament would be directly elected, thereby bypassing the Montenegrin parliament. Under previous rules, the president was elected by the federal parliament and could not run twice. <br><br>Djukanovic denounced it as the "most drastic and most dangerous move so far in the toppling of the constitutional and the legal system of the country" based on the 1992 Yugoslav constitution, adding: <br><br>"It is certain that the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, constituted on these principles, no longer exists today." <br><br>The Montenegrin parliament on Saturday rejected the amendments to the constitution, branding them as illegal. <br><br>Opposition leaders in Belgrade said a more aggressive response from Montenegro could have triggered civil war. <br><br>Montenegro has gradually taken over fiscal and monetary affairs from Belgrade, but Djukanovic said the time was not yet ripe for a separate defence ministry. <br><br>This was despite charges by his officials last week that Milosevic was using army units in the republic to stir tension and pave the way for a coup. <br><br>Djukanovic expressed confidence that the West would not abandon Montenegro. "The international community will react in time and will not wait for war to break out before it reacts."</font><br></p> <a name="newsitem963310808,44323,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>The Times: EU sanctions may help Milosevic</center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000"><br><br>FROM MARTIN FLETCHER IN BRUSSELS<br><br><br> <br>DIVISIONS surfaced within the European Union yesterday on the wisdom of continuing sanctions against Yugoslavia. <br>After debating the issue with his counterparts, Hubert Vedrine, the French Foreign Minister, acknowledged that doubts about the effectiveness of President Milosevic's regime meant that it would have to be reviewed. <br><br>"Scepticism came from a growing number of quarters about the effectiveness of the sanctions policy," he said. "Some feel they are not properly applied, others that they have been applied too much, some that they have been circumvented, some that they are bound to fail, some that they are logical and others that they are absurd. They have not achieved their political objective." <br><br>The sanctions were imposed during the war in Kosovo last year in an attempt to isolate Mr Milosevic and encourage democracy. They included a visa ban on the President and his associates, financial sanctions and an oil embargo. The EU has sought to bolster the opposition by suspending a flight ban, removing some companies from the blacklist and allowing oil deliveries. <br><br>Montenegro's Western-backed President said yesterday the Yugoslavia no longer exists and that his republic would not take part in federal elections this autumn. President Djukanovic said that by ignoring Yogoslav constitutional changes, his country had effectively left the Yogoslav legal system. </font><br></p> <a name="newsitem963310750,59081,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>The Independent: EU may lift 'failed' Milosevic sanctions </center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000"><br><br>By Stephen Castle in Brussels <br><br><br>11 July 2000 <br><br>Europe's sanctions against Serbia are to be reviewed after EU foreign ministers voiced mounting concern yesterday that measures intended to isolate President Slobodan Milosevic's regime have failed. <br><br>After a debate revealed growing frustration over the sanctions, Hubert Vedrine, the Foreign Minister of France, which holds the EU presidency, said there was "genuine scepticism ... on the part of a growing number of states" over the effectiveness of the policy. He added: "They have not achieved their political objective. This is a debate that will have to be brought forward and lead to a conclusion." <br><br>The European regime includes an oil embargo, a visa ban on senior Serbian figures, and financial sanctions against Yugoslav companies except those which feature on a so-called "white list". The oil embargo is the most controversial because several countries feel it is hitting the wider population rather than the political élite. <br><br>Britain, the last country to agree to a suspension of the ban on commercial flights, last night stuck to the tough line. Keith Vaz, the minister for Europe, said: "If you start to withdraw sanctions that would send the wrong message." British officials are particularly reluctant to agree to any relaxation because of changes to the Yugoslav constitution that allow Mr Milosevic to serve a further term as President. <br><br>But there has been growing agreement in European capitals on the need to engage with Serb civil society, and to stress the economic rewards of working with the West, rather than isolating Yugoslavia. </font><br></p> <a name="newsitem963310707,64284,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>The Christian Science Monitor: Nudge toward order in Kosovo</center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000"><br><br>Frustrated US military tries sanctions to prod intractable Serb and ethnic Albanian villages.<br><br>Richard Mertens <br>Special to The Christian Science Monitor<br><br>STRPCE, YUGOSLAVIA <br><br>A group of about 20 cars, trucks, and buses made a tense journey across Kosovo recently. The vehicles were old, some had bundles tied to their roofs, and together they had the desperate, rag-tag look of a column of refugees.<br><br>In fact, they were Serbs returning to southern Kosovo after a visit to Serbia proper. But to reach home they had to pass through ethnic Albanian villages. Three people were injured when the convoy was pelted with rocks.<br><br>For the people of Strpce, an isolated Serb enclave in Kosovo's American-patrolled sector, the twice-a-week convoys are a lifeline. Without them, villagers cannot receive hospital treatment, visit relatives, take university exams, or stock their shops. Normally, the US Army protects them with armored vehicles. But after villagers ransacked a local United Nations building, the Americans suspended the escort for a week and vowed to divert money for improvement projects to more cooperative communities.<br><br>"You can't attack us and then put your hand out for support and aid," Brig. Gen. Randal Tieszen, the American commander in Kosovo, told reporters last Tuesday.<br><br>Strpce is not the only place where the Americans are getting tough. They also vowed to withhold medical assistance and other aid from ethnic Albanians around Kamenica, an ethnically mixed town in eastern Kosovo, in a dispute over a monument honoring the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), the officially disbanded ethnic Albanian rebel force.<br><br>American peacekeepers are resorting to sterner measures than usual to loosen the grip of hard-liners on both sides of the ethnic divide. Their weapons were not guns, but the rewards of American aid.<br><br>"This is a mental game more than any other situation I've been in," said General Tieszen.<br><br>Lack of cooperation is a recurring problem in Kosovo, a southern province of Serbia that has been under UN and NATO control since the United States and its allies went to war last year over the mistreatment of its ethnic Albanian majority. Since then, ethnic Albanians and minority Serbs have confounded efforts to create multiethnic institutions such as schools, hospitals, and workplaces, and continue to intimidate and commit violence against each other. The strains have taken on new urgency as the UN tries to organize municipal elections set for October.<br><br>Most of the time, Western officials have relied on patient negotiation and stern but vague warnings. But events in the American sector recently frustrated peacekeepers to the point where they believed sanctions had become necessary.<br><br>In Strpce, the problem began with the disappearance of a Serb farmer, who was later found murdered. The night he disappeared, Serbs gathered in the town square. Western officials say the group threw rocks at the local UN police station then stormed the UN administration building, ripping out doors, breaking windows, and throwing out computers and other equipment.<br><br>The Serbs in Strpce have plenty to be angry about. Since NATO-led forces entered the province in June, 1999, 13 villagers have disappeared. In addition, their loyalties remain firmly with Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.<br><br>Still, the American sanctions stung. "I think it's just ordinary blackmail," says Zoran Popovic, a demonstrator outside the Strpce cultural center. The local UN administrator, who is French, called the punishment "politically stupid" and resigned. But Tieszen insisted that "communities must be held responsible."<br><br>In Kamenica, the problem began earlier this year when local ethnic Albanians began building monuments to those who died fighting the Serbs. Western officials believed there were more pressing needs for the community funds. Some also worried that the monuments were part of an attempt to drive Serbs from the area. Lt. Gary Oscar, an American military analyst, describes the monuments as "ethnically divisive and politically motivated."<br><br>The issue came to a head two weeks ago, when Albanians erected a 12-foot granite-and-marble monument in the local market. The local UN administration gave permission, but in deference to local Serbs forbade any display of the KLA emblem, a black double-headed eagle against a red background.<br><br><br> <br>The day the monument was unveiled, local Albanians put a large KLA emblem on top of it anyway - even though the men it honored had not been KLA members. A large crowd threw rocks at Russian soldiers who tried to intervene. Since then, the Americans have tried but failed to get local leaders to remove the symbol. "It's been a real thorn," says Capt. Bill Thompson, an Army spokesman. "It's a provocation, how can it not be?" says Stojanka Djordjevic, selling walnuts, string beans, and summer apples at the edge of the market.<br><br>Some people have praised the American measures. The Rev. Sava Janjic, a spokesman for a group of moderate Serb leaders in Kosovo, says sanctions should be used more broadly in Kosovo. "This is the best way to create moderate leadership in Kosovo," he says. "Otherwise, the people will not feel the difference between moderate and extremist leaders. They will still get the same aid."<br><br>But although British and French peacekeepers face similar problems, spokesmen for both contingents said sanctions had not been deemed necessary. Even the Americans seemed eager not to appear too tough. "This is not punishment," Tieszen stressed last week.<br><br>In Strpce on Thursday, the local Serb leader publicly expressed gratitude to the international community and vowed to cooperate. American peacekeepers said the Serbs also removed piles of rocks and timbers that had been laid up for barricades. But as American soldiers passed out leaflets explaining that the convoys would resume "on a trial basis," they were greeted with little joy.<br><br>"They just think they have success, but that's not true," says Dule Ogarovic, a trader in the village center. "Because they have more power, they can force us to do things. But it's not democracy. It's success with force."</font><br></p> <a name="newsitem963310672,80593,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>The New York Times: Accident Kills Kosovo Boy </center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000"><br><br>By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE<br> <br> <br>PRISTINA, Kosovo, July 10 -- An American soldier accidentally shot and killed a 5-year-old Kosovo Albanian boy today, a spokesman for the Kosovo peacekeeping force said. <br>"Today a Kosovar Albanian child was accidentally shot by" an American peacekeeper "at the village of Cerkez Sadovina" in eastern Kosovo, Maj. Scott Slaten said. <br><br>The boy was shot when a soldier who was part of a team mending a fence at a village school accidentally discharged a three-round burst from his weapon, said a statement released by peacekeeping officials in Pristina. <br><br>The boy was taken to a hospital, where he was declared dead. He had been hit in the chest with at least one round, the statement said. An investigation was under way, officials said. </font><br></p> <a name="newsitem963219481,18835,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>The Independent: Montenegro resists Milosevic's attempt to provoke a new war </center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000"><br>By Raymond Whitaker <br><br><br>9 July 2000 <br><br>The creeping confrontation between Serbia and Montenegro, the only other republic remaining within Yugoslavia, inched another step forward yesterday when the Montenegrin parliament voted to boycott all decisions made by the federal government in Belgrade. <br><br>But the deputies shied from voting for an immediate referendum on independence from Yugoslavia, a step which could have brought a new Balkan war much closer. <br><br>They rejected a call for a vote by the pro-independence Social Democratic Party, which is allied to the Western-leaning president of Montenegro, Milo Djukanovic. <br><br>The emergency parliamentary session in the Montenegrin capital, Podgorica, followed changes to the Yugoslav constitution voted through in Belgrade. <br><br>These would not only strengthen the hold on power of the Yugoslav President, Slobodan Milosevic, but would considerably reduce the influence of Montenegro within Yugoslavia. <br><br>Opening the session on Friday evening, the Montenegrin Prime Minister, Filip Vujanovic, said the Yugoslav amendments were a "brutal attempt" to annul the statehood of Montenegro. <br><br>Mr Milosevic would be able to stand for a second term, keeping him in power for up to eight more years, and instead of being chosen by parliament would be directly elected, a change which would also apply to the upper house of the federal parliament. These measures would minimise the influence of Montenegro, which has only 600,000 people against Serbia's 10 million. <br><br>In essence, Mr Milosevic is using the same tactics on Montenegro as the one that devastated Bosnia and much of Croatia in the 1990s, forcing the republic to choose between remaining in Yugoslavia on his terms or going to war. <br><br>In Bosnia's case, President Alija Izetbegovic's decision to hold a referendum on breaking away from Yugoslavia was the immediate trigger for the bloodiest European conflict since the Second World War. <br><br>Mr Djukanovic has edged Montenegro as far away from Belgrade as he dares, making overtures to the West, adopting the deutschmark as a parallel currency and ignoring the writ of the federal authorities. <br><br>But this weekend he has compromised on the question of independence. The Yugoslav national army remains on his soil, and he has not given way to the demands of his more radical ministers for an immediate independence vote. <br><br>The seven-hour parliamentary debate revealed the degree of tension within Montenegro, with frequent exchanges of insults and menacing language between Milosevic and Djukanovic supporters. <br><br>One of the latter, Zarko Rakcevic, accused the pro-Milosevic Socialist People's Party of being "ethnic cleansers who can only go to The Hague", referring to the UN tribunal trying war crimes in the former Yugoslav republics. The man they supported, he said, "is indicted and wanted by the tribunal". <br><br>Zoran Zizic, a Socialist People's Party member, said the constitutional changes were aimed at "saving Yugoslavia from those whose basic political platform is to destroy the federal state". </font><br></p> <a name="newsitem963219462,37591,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>The Christian Science Monitor: Yugoslavia heads for showdown on Milosevic's tenure</center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000"><br>Constitutional changes approved Friday entrench president, may bring civil war.<br><br>Alex Todorovic <br>Special to The Christian Science Monitor<br><br>BELGRADE, YUGOSLAVIA <br><br>Once again, Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic has put his political opponents off guard, producing a new but risky strategy for remaining in office: direct democracy.<br><br>Yugoslavia's federal parliament enacted changes to Yugoslavia's Constitution on Friday that will allow Mr. Milosevic to serve two more four-year terms. They also tilt the balance of power in pro-Western Montenegro, Serbia's junior partner in the Yugoslav federation, and could push the republic toward civil war.<br><br>Justice Minister Dragan Soc warned that the constitutional changes would lead to the further breakup of Yugoslavia. "There is no Yugoslavia with a humiliated Montenegro," he told parliament during a heated debate last week.<br><br>In an eight-hour emergency session that ended early Saturday morning, Montenegrin lawmakers passed a resolution rejecting the constitutional changes. Montenegro will no longer recognize any legal or political acts adopted by Yugoslav federal authorities, they said.<br><br>"Montenegro as a federal unit and Montenegrin citizens as equal citizens of Yugoslavia no longer exist as a constitutional category," Ratko Vukotic, head of the Supreme Court, was quoted as saying by Montenegro's news agency Montena-Fax.<br><br><br>More democratic<br><br>Although Milosevic opponents decried the hastily enacted constitutional changes as political manipulation, the new system is, ironically, more democratic. The Yugoslav president and Montenegro's representatives in federal parliament will now be elected by direct vote instead of by parliament. "The tendency in federal systems everywhere is toward more direct democracy. In modern times, if you are not directly elected you don't have the support of the people. Direct elections are a good thing," says Aleksa Djilas, a historian and Milosevic observer. Mr. Djilas adds, however, that any serious constitutional changes should be preceded by a long debate. "They voted to change the Constitution as if it were a minor procedural issue," he says.<br><br>Many observers had expected Milosevic, who is under indictment by the War Crimes Tribunal at The Hague, to become Yugoslavia's next prime minister, an office technically more powerful than the presidency. The Constitution prohibited Milosevic from serving another term as Yugoslav president. He had already served the maximum two terms as Serbian president.<br><br>Instead, Milosevic has decided to trust in the people. Although the strategy contains risks, a victory by popular ballot would give him democratic credibility.<br><br>Taken as a whole, Serbia's opposition is much more popular, but polls show Milosevic can beat any opposition candidate in a one-on-one contest. "Today, Milosevic would receive 25 to 30 percent of the vote, a figure that nobody from the opposition can rival," says Srbobran Brankovic, with Medium, an independent polling agency in Belgrade.<br><br>But it's not enough to win the presidency. Milosevic must also control the federal parliament, and the changes to the Constitution also simplify that task.<br><br>Previously, Montenegro's parliament chose its representatives to the upper house Chamber of Republics. Now, Montenegrin voters will elect their representatives, giving Milosevic supporters more power against President Milo Djukanovic's ruling coalition.<br><br>The point is somewhat moot, because Mr, Djukanovic has refused to send representatives to federal parliament since 1998.<br><br>Montenegro is gradually distancing itself from the Yugoslav federation. Today, the only remaining federal institution is the Yugoslav Army and Navy, with an estimated presence of 25,000. Montenegrin leaders accuse Milosevic of using Army units to stir up unrest and pave the way for a possible coup.<br><br><br>Showdown possible<br><br>Nebojsa Covic, an opposition leader in Belgrade, said he expected Milosevic to step up pressure on Montenegro. "In the next week or so, the Yugoslav parliament will adopt the famous antiterrorism law," he told reporters, referring to a proposed security law that critics say will threaten basic human rights. "Together with the amended Constitution, it creates great potential for Milosevic's negative imagination and a showdown with political opponents."<br><br>The West has given Montenegro millions in financial aid, at the same time warning the republic to move slowly on a referendum to separate from Yugoslavia. Montenegrins remain sharply divided on the issue. After the latest changes, it seems clear Djukanovic will not take part in federal and local elections expected in November and may pursue the referendum option.<br><br>Djilas notes, however, that Milosevic allies in Montenegro, who control a number of towns, may participate in the vote anyway. "That would mean Montenegro's representatives in federal parliament would consist entirely of Milosevic supporters, which would help Milosevic immensely in parliament. That is precisely what happened in Kosovo when Albanians boycotted elections.<br><br>"Montenegrin separatism may be Milosevic's political ally as Albanian separatism was in Kosovo, before NATO's bombing campaign," Djilas says.</font><br></p> <a name="newsitem963219437,83834,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>The New York Times: U.N.'s Plan for Kosovo Threatens to Unravel</center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000">By STEVEN ERLANGER<br><br>RACANICA, Kosovo, July 6 -- The first agreement between the Serbs and the United Nations administration here may provide better protection for the Serbian minority, but it threatens to unravel key Albanian participation in international efforts to build a democratic, tolerant Kosovo. <br>Maneuvering by the province's majority Albanians and the Serbs is intensifying ahead of municipal elections scheduled for October. The international administration here hopes that this ballot will be the first step toward cutting Kosovo loose from its foreign lifelines, but so far almost no Serbs have registered to vote. <br><br>And Albanian leaders jostling for power seem to be increasingly willing to fight out their differences on the streets. <br><br>A year into the effort to rebuild Kosovo, many in the United Nations administration say they are wearying of the recalcitrance of Albanian leaders. They are also under new pressure to protect the Serbian minority better against persistent attacks, especially the more openly cooperative Serbs grouped around the religious leaders Bishop Kyr Artemije and the Rev. Sava Janjic -- known as Father Sava -- who are based at the early 14th-century Serbian Orthodox monastery here. <br><br>The Clinton administration has negotiated with Bishop Artemije to persuade him to join the executive council established by Bernard Kouchner, the chief United Nations administrator. The bishop's decision to do so was viewed as traitorous by the Yugoslav government of President Slobodan Milosevic in Belgrade and by a rival Kosovo Serb grouping led from the northern town of Mitrovica. <br><br>Some formal participation by Serbs is considered vital to the success of the Western effort to turn Kosovo into a democratic, self-governing entity where all ethnic groups can live peacefully -- even if separated into enclaves behind barbed wire and guarded by foreign peacekeepers. <br><br>And there is pressure from Washington to begin the return to Kosovo of at least some Serbs who fled Albanian revenge when NATO's bombing war against Yugoslavia ended a year ago, enabling hundreds of thousands of Albanians driven from home by the Serbs to return. <br><br>Washington is eager to promote the bishop and his Serbian National Council over the harder-line Mitrovica Serbs led by Oliver Ivanovic, who is more closely, if not definitively, allied with Belgrade. <br><br>Therefore, after Bishop Artemije protested increased attacks on Serbs last month by walking out of Mr. Kouchner's council, the Clinton administration helped the bishop's group of Serbs and the United Nations to negotiate an agreement on security for the Serbian minority that coaxed the bishop back in, at least for three more months. <br><br>It was the first direct accord between the United Nations and Kosovo Serbs. <br><br>"We have no other choice but to participate," said Father Sava, the bishop's aide and spokesman. "We cannot live on rhetoric and criticism, but we have to give our own constructive contribution." <br><br>The memorandum drew fierce protests from other Serbs, nearly every Kosovo Albanian party and the government of neighboring Albania. <br><br>Hashim Thaci, once the leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army and now head of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, himself withdrew from United Nations councils, at least "temporarily," on July 4, just before attending a party at the American diplomatic mission here. <br><br>Mr. Thaci says the agreement, which he first read about in newspapers, "opens the door" to the partition of Kosovo into separate ethnic enclaves. What bothers him most, his aides say, is not Gracanica and its Serbs, but partitioned Mitrovica, which is divided into a Serbian-dominated north and an Albanian-dominated south and where the Ibar River still marks the effective beginning of Serbia proper, though the actual border is further north. <br><br>Mitrovica remains a neuralgic point for Albanians. Mr. Thaci's aides say Mr. Kouchner and the NATO officers who lead the peacekeeping force here may mean well but are naïve and open to Serbian manipulation. <br><br>Indeed, United Nations and NATO officials admit privately that it is less and less likely that the West will act forcefully to end the partition of Mitrovica, and therefore of Kosovo itself, because of the risk to alliance troops and the fear that such action would drive thousands more Serbs from the province. <br><br>Under the agreement with Bishop Artemije, the United Nations promises to improve the safety and freedom of movement of Serbs by developing a special police task force for Serb enclaves; to get more Serbs, particularly those nominated by the bishop, into Kosovo's multiethnic police force; to promote the return of Serbs, find more Serbian and international judges to adjudicate crimes and disputes; and, crucially, to establish up to 20 "local community offices" in Serbian areas. <br><br>Albanians criticize the special offices and arrangements for Kosovo Serbs, saying they undermine the principle of a unified and multiethnic Kosovo. <br><br>But Father Sava points to Albanian attacks on Serbs that make enclaves necessary, and notes that if the United Nations and NATO peacekeepers do not deliver, the position of Gracanica's Serbs will be further undermined. <br><br>Mr. Kouchner emphasizes that every institution is ultimately under his control. He admits that he did not consult Mr. Thaci or other Albanian leaders, saying he has always dealt with security issues as his responsibility. <br><br>"Personally, I have always been on the side of those who suffer," Mr. Kouchner said. "Earlier they were the Albanians, but now it is the Serbs and members of other communities." <br><br>An aide to Mr. Kouchner suggested that Mr. Thaci was losing popularity and needed to stand up to the United Nations, although he conceded there were deeper issues at stake. He noted that Ibrahim Rugova, the more moderate Albanian leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo, had not left the council. <br><br>The aide predicted that the summer months, leading up to the first elections in postwar Kosovo, were likely to be marked by more violence, especially among the Albanian parties. <br><br>Already Mr. Thaci's followers and those of Ramush Haradinaj, a former Kosovo Liberation Army commander who heads another rival party, the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, have been attacking each other, as well as Mr. Rugova's followers. <br><br>[In one such attack early Friday morning, Mr. Haradinaj and his brother were wounded in an exchange of fire with Rugova supporters in the village of Stroece, near Pec. Mr. Haradinaj, the third former K.L.A. leader attacked in recent weeks, was flown on Sunday to an American military hospital in Germany.] <br><br>The continuing violence -- both intra-Albanian and interethnic -- has depressed United Nations workers who are struggling to build a new Kosovo with limited resources. <br></font><br></p> <a name="newsitem963047661,49749,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>Montenegrin parliament rejects Yugoslav constitutional amendments</center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000">PODGORICA, Yugoslavia (AP) _ Lawmakers on Saturday backed the Montenegrin government"s decision to reject changes to the constitution _ amendments aimed at concentrating power into the hands of the Yugoslav president while reducing Montenegro"s status. <br>After a marathon session marked by insults between pro-independence and pro-Yugoslav camps, 35 of the parliament"s 53 representatives voted in favor of the resolution adopted Friday by the Montenegrin government. The other deputies in the 78-member legislature were not present or abstained. <br><br>The parliament session, which lasted more than seven hours, revealed the deep divisions between supporters of Montenegro"s pro-Western President Milo Djukanovic and those who stand behind President Slobodan Milosevic. <br><br>A proposed amendment to the government resolution calling for a referendum on the republic"s independence and proposed by the Social Democrats was rejected by the lawmakers. The Social Democrats are partners in Montenegro"s ruling coalition. <br><br>Representatives broke-off for an hour Friday, after Zarko Rakcevic, a Djukanovic ally, accused the pro-Milosevic Socialist People"s Party of being "ethnic cleansers who can only go to The Hague," referring to the U.N. tribunal. <br><br>Rakcevic refused to apologize for the remark, saying "the man you rally (Milosevic) is indicted and wanted by the tribunal." <br><br>The bickering in parliament reflects the overall political situation in Montenegro, Serbia"s junior partner in the Yugoslav federation. While backers of Djukanovic support independence, the pro-Milosevic camp see the Montenegrin president"s ideas as threatening Yugoslavia. <br><br>Despite threats to begin steps toward independence, following the decision in Belgrade Thursday to rewrite parts of the federal constitution, Montenegrin officials declared the changes "illegal, illegitimate ... and unacceptable," but stopped short of making moves toward breaking away. <br><br>Instead, the resolution appealed for "the citizens of Montenegro, Serbia"s democratic public and the international community to contribute to peace, and the members of the Yugoslav army not to be misused against the citizens and the institutions of Montenegro." <br><br>The constitutional amendments passed in Belgrade on Thursday envisage that both the Yugoslav president and the parliament"s upper house be chosen in a popular vote, paving the way for Milosevic"s re-election, while downgrading Montenegro"s position in the federation. <br><br>Montenegro has only 600,000 people, compared to Serbia"s 10 million. A direct election of the president and the legislators cuts its influence in the federation and concentrates power in Milosevic"s hands. <br><br>Although Milosevic"s popularity is believed to have plummeted since last year"s NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, he retains full control of the media and state institutions _ limiting the opposition"s chances for a fair election race. <br><br>Milosevic was indicted by an international war crimes tribunal for atrocities committed during his crackdown in Serbia"s Kosovo province, which triggered last year"s 78-day NATO bombing campaign. Staying in power would be Milosevic"s best guarantee against prosecution. <br></font><br></p> <a name="newsitem963047633,15386,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>The Washington Post: Move OK'd To Prolong Milosevic Rule</center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000"><br>By Misha Savic<br>Associated Press Writer<br>Friday, July 7, 2000; 1:07 AM <br><br>PODGORICA, Yugoslavia –– Montenegro issued a thinly veiled threat to secede from the Yugoslav federation after the Yugoslav parliament changed its constitution to strengthen President Slobodan Milosevic's hold on power. <br><br>By changing the constitution, the parliament – dominated by president's allies – paved the way for Milosevic's re-election when his term expires next year.<br><br>The amendments passed Thursday call for the Yugoslav president to be elected by popular vote, allowing Milosevic to run for a second term, and for direct election of representatives to the upper house of the Yugoslav parliament.<br><br>After the votes, Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic warned that Milosevic's regime had destroyed the federal constitutional system.<br><br>"Therefore, Montenegro will have to find mechanisms to protect itself from such constitutional and legal violence, through its parliament and with the support from its citizens," a statement from Djukanovic's office said.<br><br>The Parliament of Montenegro, Serbia's much smaller partner in the Yugoslav federation, was to meet Friday to discuss the constitutional changes designed to perpetuate the Balkan strongman's hold on power.<br><br>While Djukanovic did not call for outright independence, other senior Montenegrin officials speaking before him indicated that the amendments enacted in Belgrade could quicken the pace.<br><br>"Tomorrow Montenegro's parliament will declare a moratorium on today's decisions, which will not be valid in Montenegro," Miodrag Vukovic, a senior adviser to Djukanovic, said of the parliament's vote.<br><br>"Since this amounts to the constitution of a new country, Montenegro is now forced into making inevitable moves," he said.<br><br>Montenegro's reformist leadership has thus far refrained from declaring full independence, fearing a possible armed conflict with Milosevic's supporters.<br><br>Currently, the upper house includes 20 deputies from Serbia and 20 from Montenegro, all chosen by both republics' parliaments. If the deputies are directly elected, Montenegrin candidates would stand little chance of winning – their republic has only 600,000 people, compared with Serbia's 10 million.<br><br>The other amendment approved Thursday calls for the Yugoslav president to be elected by popular vote, rather than by assembly members, as was the case when Milosevic was appointed in 1997.<br><br>The lower chamber passed the changes 95-7, while the vote in the upper chamber was 27-0.<br><br>Milosevic's allies argued that direct election would confer "the greatest possible democratic legitimacy" to the institution of the president.<br><br>"This is in the interest of the citizens of Serbia and Montenegro and our joint state," Milutin Stojkovic, a deputy from the president's ruling Socialist Party, said during the parliamentary debate.<br><br>But an opposition deputy, Vladeta Jankovic, told parliament that "instead of us all respecting the constitution, we are having the whole constitution adjusted to serve the interests of one man."<br><br>Although Milosevic's popularity is believed to have plummeted since last year's NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, he is still in full control of the media and state institutions, diminishing opposition chances for a fair election race.<br><br>Milosevic has been indicted by an international war crimes tribunal for atrocities committed during his crackdown in Serbia's Kosovo province, which triggered last year's 78-day NATO bombing campaign. Staying in power would be Milosevic's best guarantee against prosecution.<br></font><br></p> <a name="newsitem963047597,7009,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>Milosevic Seeks Eight More Years in Office</center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000"><br><br>BELGRADE, Jul 7, 2000 -- (RFE/RL) Parliamentary deputies from parties loyal to Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic approved on 6 July three amendments to the federal constitution aimed at strengthening his power.<br><br>The first amendment states that the president will be elected directly- -instead of by the parliament, as is now the case--for up to two terms of four years each.<br><br>The second amendment specifies that members of the upper house will be elected directly by popular vote, instead of being elected in equal numbers by the Serbian and Montenegrin parliaments, as current legislation states.<br><br>This will greatly reduce the influence of Montenegro, whose population is approximately only one-tenth of Serbia's.<br><br>The third amendment allows the parliament to appoint or sack individual ministers. At present, the cabinet must be approved or dismissed as a body.<br><br>This amendment will enable Milosevic to intimidate or remove any minister who has become politically inconvenient.<br></font><br></p> <a name="newsitem963047581,64971,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>The Independent: UN cash 'is going to Serbian war crimes suspects' </center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000"><br><br>Review to examine claims that former commanders now standing trial are getting a share of their lawyers' legal aid <br><br>By Stephen Castle in Brussels and Vesna Peric Zimonjic in Belgrade <br><br><br>7 July 2000 <br><br>The United Nations war crimes tribunal is investigating claims that some of its $14m (£8.75m) annual budget for legal aid is being shared by Serb defence lawyers with clients accused of some of the most serious crimes against humanity. <br><br>The registrar at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, based in The Hague, is reviewing procedures as suspicion grows that UN cash is being siphoned to fund a property-buying spree in Bosnia and Serbia. <br><br>Defendants are said to earn between 20 and 40 per cent of their counsel's fees and are usually paid in cash. One prominent Serb lawyer, Vladimir Bozovic, said "enormous amounts of money are given". <br><br>Among the most notorious suspects in The Hague are Stanislav Galic and Momir Talic, whose cases are at the pre-trial stage, and Radislav Krstic whose trial is ongoing, although there is no evidence that any are linked to the practice. <br><br>The UN is currently covering defence costs for 37 of the Serbs, Croats and Bosnian Muslims accused of war crimes in the former Yugoslavia, with each lawyer claiming $80 to $110 an hour, depending on their experience. This sum, intended to cover all expenses including office costs, is limited to 175 hours a month for each claimant but most defendants have a co-counsel in addition to their main attorney. <br><br>Last year's budget ran to $14.2m, with this year's set slightly lower at $13.9m, reflecting the importance the tribunal attaches to the principle that the accused should be properly defended. <br><br>Jim Landale, a spokesman for the tribunal, said it was aware of the rumours that money was shared with clients and that procedures were under review. "This is something that we take very seriously," he added. <br><br>But the registrar's options may be limited. Normally such issues are referred to the bar association of the country concerned but, given Belgrade's hostility to the tribunal in The Hague, this is unlikely to provide a solution. <br><br>Another possibility would be to use evidence of money being paid to clients to disqualify claimants from legal aid entitlements. However, even this might be open to challenge because there is a grey area over the use of legal aid money for some expenses outside the court room – for example funding relatives' visits. <br><br>Mr Bozovic, who is one of the lawyers representing the Bosnian Serb Dusan Tadic – currently serving 20 years for war crimes committed in the 1992-1995 Bosnia conflict – said "it is true many defence lawyers share their high fees with their clients". According to Mr Bozovic: "Defendants get between 20 and 40 per cent of a lawyer's fee and the payment is usually in cash", although he declined to name the lawyers involved. <br><br>He believes that the "idea might have come from certain dishonourable lawyers who, by representing many clients at the same time, have been making enormous amounts of money". Insisting that "enormous amounts of money are given" to the clients from the UN-funded lawyers' fees, Mr Bozovic said some of his colleagues had earned more than 500,000 German marks (£166,000), an extremely high sum by Serbian standards. The money is often used for buying real estate in the Serb part of Bosnia or in Serbia proper. <br><br>"War crimes suspects choose lawyers depending on the amount of money they would receive ... Defendants often say they do not care whether they are cleared of charges. The only thing important to them is to get more money than they could have earned, being free, during their lifetime." <br><br>The president of the Bar Association of Serbia, Branislav Tapuskovic, said: "The rumours are not new. If they are true, that would mean breaching of the ethic code of the profession. That would also mean that the defendants are choosing law-yers to make money and not to have a good defence". <br><br>Meanwhile the Croatian lawyer Ante Nobilo, representing the jailed Croatian general Tihomir Blaskic, told the Dutch media that there were lawyers on the Croatian side involved in such practice. <br></font><br></p> <a name="newsitem962960047,66420,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>BBC : Power boost for Milosevic</center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000">Milosevic could become constitutional dictator, say critics<br><br>Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic is a step closer towards a second term in office after his country's parliament cleared the way for him to stand for re-election. <br>Both houses of parliament overwhelmingly approved changes to the constitution put forward by the ruling coalition, which will allow the Yugoslav leader to run for office again when his term expires next year. <br><br>His supporters have hailed the vote as a step towards greater democracy, but opponents say it could turn him into a constitutional dictator. <br><br>The move is also provoking anger and talk of independence in Montenegro, the last state to remain alongside Serbia in the Yugoslav alliance. <br><br>The Montenegrins object to the changes, claiming the move amounts to a constitutional coup which leaves their own power and rights in tatters. <br><br>Deputies applaud the constitutional changes<br> <br><br>The BBC's Central Europe correspondent Nick Thorpe says the changes increase the likelihood that Montenegro will try to sever its remaining links with Serbia. <br><br>The Montenegrin President, Milo Djukanovic, is a pro-western leader who has already tried to distance himself from Belgrade. <br><br>An emergency session of the republic's own parliament, due to take place on Friday, is expected to hear calls for independence, and may reject the new constitution. <br><br>"Since this amounts to the constitution of a new country, Montenegro is now forced into making inevitable moves," said Miodrag Vukovic, a leading adviser to the Montenegrin Government. <br><br>Another senior figure, speaker of parliament Predrag Popovic, also attacked the changes. <br><br>"Montenegro has to defend itself from such an attack," he said. <br><br>"Yugoslavia was erased today and such a move can cost all of us dearly."<br><br>Ballot box <br><br>Under the changes, agreed by the Yugoslav parliaments, the president may stand for re-election through the ballot box rather than an electoral college of deputies. <br><br>The Yugoslav president is currently elected by parliament and cannot run twice. <br><br>Mr Milosevic, indicted by a UN court as a war criminal, has been Yugoslav president since 1997 and Serbian president since 1989. <br><br>Montenegro currently controls half the seats in Yugoslavia's upper house. The proposed constitution would bypass the Montenegrin parliament. <br><br>Opposition deputies in Belgrade also condemned the changes. <br><br>"This is what we call the legalisation of tyranny," said Tomislav Jeremic of the opposition Serbian Renewal Movement. <br><br><br>The Serbian Renewal Movement, one of the three main opposition groupings led by Vuk Draskovic, boycotted the debate in the lower house. <br><br>The fragmented Serbian opposition is united only in wanting to see Mr Milosevic ousted. <br><br>A deputy from Mr Milosevic's ruling party told parliament the changes were "the greatest possible form of democracy". <br><br>"This is in the interest of the citizens of Serbia and Montenegro and our joint state," Milutin Stojkovic said.<br><br>The presidential elections are now expected to be held in the autumn, at the same time as the federal and local elections. </font><br></p> <a name="newsitem962960021,21517,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>The Independent : Yugoslav MPs bend rules so Milosevic can stand again </center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000">By Vesna Peric Zimonjic in Belgrade <br><br><br>7 July 2000 <br><br>Yugoslavia's rubber-stamp parliament prolonged President Slobodan Milosevic's grip on power yesterday and cut the influence of the pro-Western republic of Montenegro. <br><br>Miodrag Vukovic, an adviser to Montenegro's President, Milo Djukanovic, said: "Montenegro views this as a move to destroy the federal state, which will enable us to speed up the process of independence." <br><br>The Yugoslav opposition also denounced the changes as a "constitutional coup" by Mr Milosevic, whose supporters dominate the federal legislature. Both houses of parliament in Belgrade voted for the change that will enable thepresident to be chosen by direct elections, rather than by the federal assembly as at present. The decision will enable Mr Milosevic to stand for a second term as head of state when his current, non-renewable mandate expires next year. <br><br>A change in the system of election of deputies to the Yugoslav parliament's upper chamber was also passed. The upper chamber had, until now, given both republics in the federation equal weight, despite the disparity in their populations. <br><br>The move to elect deputies directly, annulling the balance stipulated by the 1992 constitution, will mean that deputies from Montenegro would stand little chance of success in a popular vote, given that Serbia has a population of 7.5 million while the junior partner only has 650,000. <br><br>Slobodan Vucetic, a former judge with the Constitutional Court, said: "This is the end of federal Yugoslavia. The smaller republic [Montenegro] will have no more influence whatsoever in the federation." <br><br>Mr Djukanovic has already announced plans for Montenegro's future independence from the federation, citing irreconcilable differences with the repressive policies of Milosevic-controlled Serbia. <br><br>The Montenegrin parliament is to hold an emergency session in the capital, Podgorica, today, amid indications that deputies would seek to accelerate the process towards independence from Belgrade. <br><br>Yesterday's special session of the Yugoslav federal parliament was hastily convened only on Wednesday, in an unprecedented move by the ruling coalition. Yugoslavia, like Serbia, is run by the coalition made up of Mr Milosevic'sSocialists, the Yugoslav Left run by his wife, Mira Markovic,and the ultra-nationalist Serbian Radical Party of Vojislav Seselj. <br><br>Mr Milosevic has wanted to abolish the single four-year term since his election in July 1997. The changes approved by the parliament state that "the same person can be elected to the post twice, each mandate lasting four years". <br><br>The constitutional changes will radically strengthen the President's authority. The 1999 Nato air raids against Serbia did not threaten him, and his political opponents have failed to unite and topple him, despite years of international economic and political isolation. <br><br>Since his indictment by the UN tribunal for war crimes in Kosovo last year, various reports have suggested that Mr Milosevic was trying to find a way to leave office, without facing prosecution. <br><br>The reports were never confirmed, and the latest developments suggest that Mr Milosevic is not going anywhere and is strengthening his power base at home. </font><br></p> <a name="newsitem962959987,23910,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>AP : Montenegro up in arms against constitutional changes curtailing its role</center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000"> <br>PODGORICA, Yugoslavia (AP) _ Montenegro issued a thinly veiled threat to secede from the Yugoslav federation after the Yugoslav parliament changed its constitution to strengthen President Slobodan Milosevic's hold on power. <br>By changing the constitution, the parliament _ dominated by president's allies _ paved the way for Milosevic's re-election when his term expires next year. <br><br>The amendments passed Thursday call for the Yugoslav president to be elected by popular vote, allowing Milosevic to run for a second term, and for direct election of representatives to the upper house of the Yugoslav parliament. <br><br>After the votes, Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic warned that Milosevic's regime had destroyed the federal constitutional system. <br><br>"Therefore, Montenegro will have to find mechanisms to protect itself from such constitutional and legal violence, through its parliament and with the support from its citizens," a statement from Djukanovic's office said. <br><br>The Parliament of Montenegro, Serbia's much smaller partner in the Yugoslav federation, was to meet Friday to discuss the constitutional changes designed to perpetuate the Balkan strongman's hold on power. <br><br>While Djukanovic did not call for outright independence, other senior Montenegrin officials speaking before him indicated that the amendments enacted in Belgrade could quicken the pace. <br><br>"Tomorrow Montenegro's parliament will declare a moratorium on today's decisions, which will not be valid in Montenegro," Miodrag Vukovic, a senior adviser to Djukanovic, said of the parliament's vote. <br><br>"Since this amounts to the constitution of a new country, Montenegro is now forced into making inevitable moves," he said. <br><br>Montenegro's reformist leadership has thus far refrained from declaring full independence, fearing a possible armed conflict with Milosevic's supporters. <br><br>Currently, the upper house includes 20 deputies from Serbia and 20 from Montenegro, all chosen by both republics' parliaments. If the deputies are directly elected, Montenegrin candidates would stand little chance of winning _ their republic has only 600,000 people, compared with Serbia's 10 million. <br><br>The other amendment approved Thursday calls for the Yugoslav president to be elected by popular vote, rather than by assembly members, as was the case when Milosevic was appointed in 1997. <br><br>The lower chamber passed the changes 95-7, while the vote in the upper chamber was 27-0. <br><br>Milosevic's allies argued that direct election would confer "the greatest possible democratic legitimacy" to the institution of the president. <br><br>"This is in the interest of the citizens of Serbia and Montenegro and our joint state," Milutin Stojkovic, a deputy from the president's ruling Socialist Party, said during the parliamentary debate. <br><br>But an opposition deputy, Vladeta Jankovic, told parliament that "instead of us all respecting the constitution, we are having the whole constitution adjusted to serve the interests of one man." <br><br>Although Milosevic's popularity is believed to have plummeted since last year's NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, he is still in full control of the media and state institutions, diminishing opposition chances for a fair election race. <br><br>Milosevic has been indicted by an international war crimes tribunal for atrocities committed during his crackdown in Serbia's Kosovo province, which triggered last year's 78-day NATO bombing campaign. Staying in power would be Milosevic's best guarantee against prosecution.</font><br></p> <a name="newsitem962959964,17101,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>The Los Angeles Times : Milosevic Moves to Reinforce Control </center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000">Yugoslavia: The defiant president quickly rewrites the constitution to allow his reelection. Analysts fear that the move could lead to further breakup of the country.<br><br>By PAUL WATSON<br><br>SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina--With international war crimes charges hanging over his head, Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic moved Thursday to extend his hold on power by rewriting his country's constitution in a matter of hours.<br>The changes, which won quick approval in the Milosevic-dominated federal parliament, will allow the Yugoslav leader to run for reelection. His term expires next year, and he previously was barred from seeking another.<br>The new constitution will also sharply reduce what little power Montenegro has in the Yugoslav federation by changing how delegates are selected for the upper house of the federal parliament. The republics of Montenegro and the much larger Serbia make up Yugoslavia.<br>Legal experts and Milosevic's political opponents warned that the president's latest power grab could destroy what is left of the Yugoslav federation after a decade of secessionist wars and isolation.<br>"What he is doing right now is fighting for survival at any cost," Zarko Korac, an opposition politician in the Yugoslav and Serbian capital, Belgrade, said in a telephone interview. "It's almost a death blow to the Yugoslav federation, because he is doing whatever he pleases in Yugoslavia."<br>Milosevic served two terms as Serbian president before the federal parliament elected him president of Yugoslavia in 1997 for a single term that expires in July 2001.<br>The measures passed Thursday call for the Yugoslav president to be elected to four-year terms by popular vote, rather than by the parliament. The president can serve a maximum of two terms--potentially allowing Milosevic to remain in power for two more terms. <br>In addition, the measures call for the direct election of deputies in the upper house of the federal parliament. Under the previous system, Montenegro's parliament was authorized to choose half of the 40 deputies in the upper house, to offset the larger Serbia's power in the federation. However, the Montenegrin deputies in the current federal parliament are dominated by loyalists of Milosevic, who in 1998 refused to allow the smaller republic to replace them.<br>The lower house of parliament passed the changes, 95-7, while the vote among upper house delegates in attendance was 27-0, according to the Associated Press.<br>Milosevic's government insisted that the amended constitution will give Yugoslavs greater democracy by allowing for direct elections of the president and deputies.<br>The new document provides "the greatest possible form of democracy," Milutin Stojkovic, a deputy from Milosevic's ruling Socialist Party, told the parliament as opposition members condemned the changes.<br>But while Milosevic is increasingly unpopular in his homeland, he controls the media and state institutions and faces a deeply divided opposition, giving him advantages in a direct election.<br>Vuk Draskovic, Milosevic's most popular opponent, called the constitutional changes "legal terrorism" and said the Yugoslav president's allies from Montenegro who voted in favor of the new constitution were "committing a severe criminal act."<br>Montenegro's parliament is expected to vote today to declare a moratorium in the republic on Milosevic's constitutional changes, "which will not be valid in Montenegro," said Miodrag Vukovic, a top aide to Milo Djukanovic, the republic's pro-Western president.<br>"In the next days, Montenegro will adopt laws that will wrap up its independence in all fields," added Vukovic, who before Thursday's vote had declared that "Milosevic is speeding up the process of throwing Montenegro out of the joint state."<br>Djukanovic repeatedly has threatened to declare Montenegro's independence, only to back down, largely because a complete break could spark a civil war. Such a conflict would pit Djukanovic's supporters and his police against Milosevic allies backed by heavily armed federal troops based in Montenegro.<br>Milosevic appears to be calculating that the split between pro- and anti-independence supporters in Montenegro is so deep that Djukanovic isn't strong enough to resist the new constitution, said Korac, the opposition politician.<br>Milosevic's gambit was as stunning for its speed as it was for its audacity. Without warning, his government announced Wednesday that it planned to rewrite the constitution. After a day of debate in parliament, the job was done.<br>Few Yugoslavs outside parliament knew the details of the constitutional reforms, which were kept secret until they were put to deputies Thursday for debate and a vote.<br>An act as crucial as changing a country's supreme law should take months and, in a federal state, should not have been done without the approval of Montenegro, said Slobodan Vucetic, a former judge on Serbia's Constitutional Court who was removed by Milosevic last year.<br>"If the announced change is carried out, there is no doubt that this would not be just the beginning of the end but that it would be the very end of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia," Vucetic said in an interview published Thursday in Blic, the nation's largest-circulation independent daily newspaper.<br>Until 1991, six republics made up Yugoslavia. Four have broken away to form independent nations--reducing Milosevic's control to Serbia and Montenegro.<br>During the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's 78-day air war against Yugoslavia last year, a U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague indicted Milosevic and four senior officials of his government on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Kosovo, a Serbian province where his military and police forces were repressing the ethnic Albanian majority.<br>Opposition leaders called the timing of the indictments a mistake because Milosevic would be left with no option but to hold on to power as long as he could to avoid being sent to trial in The Hague.</font><br></p> <a name="newsitem962959933,58275,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>The New Yorkt Times : In the Hundreds of Thousands, Kosovo Homeless Feel Forsaken</center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000">By CARLOTTA GALL<br><br><br>PRISTINA, Kosovo, July 1 -- Kosovo's capital today is a chaotic and noisy town, heaving with small traders, construction work, sidewalk cafes and traffic jams. But the hubbub scarcely speaks of solution of Kosovo's many problems: a year after the end of the war here, chaos and dislocation continue, manifested in the doubling or even tripling of the population of this ramshackle town, now home to more than half a million people. <br>Mostly people from the villages, they are refugees who have abandoned their burned-out homes and have sought work and shelter in the capital. <br><br>As more than 700,000 Kosovo Albanians flocked home from refugee camps in six weeks last summer, or came down from their hiding places in the hills, many seized Serbian houses here, forcing Serbs and Gypsy residents to flee. <br><br>The Kosovo war forced about two-thirds of the province's two million people from their homes. Hundreds of thousands remain displaced, living in tents and shacks in villages, in drab and despondent refugee centers in towns, or doubled up with relatives in cramped and unhealthy surroundings in the cities, as many as 30 to an apartment. <br><br>The refugee camps in neighboring Macedonia and Albania, which took in more than a million Kosovo refugees in the three months of NATO's war with Yugoslavia last year, are long empty, like abandoned parking lots with a few discarded clothes lying among the weeds. Only a few thousand mostly old or sick refugees remain in the two countries, left behind in the struggle for survival. <br><br>In Kosovo, people are still returning every day. In front of the Pristina airport stand two large white tents where local officials register the hundreds of refugees returning on daily flights from Western Europe or further afield. As many as 140,000 people will be returning to Kosovo this summer. <br><br>Their host countries have deemed the province peaceful and safe enough, but United Nations officials fear the influx will strain Kosovo's limited housing beyond the breaking point, adding to the ethnic and other tensions that continue to explode in almost daily violence. <br><br>Arsim Krasniqi, 22, was among the refugees returning from Germany recently. He was traveling alone, and no one met him. "I am happy to be coming back to a free Kosovo, but I am sad because I have no family here," he said. "My father and brother were killed. My other brother is missing. At home everything is burned." <br><br>His mother and sisters were to arrive on another refugee flight from Germany in several days, he said. "Where we'll live, I don't know." <br><br>On their first night back in Kosovo, thousands of returning refugees end up on mattresses on the floor of a transit center in Pristina. Adem Sylejmani, who runs the center for World Vision, said many were still traumatized and uncertain. "One of the first things they ask is, 'Are there any Serbs around here?' " he said. <br><br>Most move on quickly, usually to relatives, or take a tent and head home to their villages. "We are left with the very vulnerable people, the old, social cases, ones with family problems and mental cases," he said. <br><br>Despite the enormous building activity obvious in every corner of Kosovo, United Nations officials are growing concerned that Kosovo simply does not have enough housing. "Capacity is limited," said Gottfried Koefner assistant chief of the Kosovo mission of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugee. "People are squeezing, and we are already seeing secondary displacement. People are ending up in tents." <br><br>Some of those returning are forcing other families out on the streets as they reclaim their houses. There are at least 6,000 people in collective centers in public buildings in Kosovo, most of them villagers whose houses have been burned, whose relatives are unable to help and who have nowhere else to go. <br><br>Bernard Kouchner, the head of the United Nations administration in Kosovo, has appealed for countries to slow the returns, particularly because aid officials do not plan to rebuild all the destroyed homes here. <br><br>More than 120,000 houses across the province were damaged or destroyed in the war, about 80,000 of them so badly that they have to be rebuilt from their foundations, European officials found. International assistance has helped repair 17,000 of the partly damaged homes. <br><br>Of the 80,000 destroyed houses, there are plans to rebuild 12,000 to 15,000 this year and a similar number next year, said Stephen Lewarne, the head of reconstruction in the United Nations administration here. He is seeking $126 million from international donors for housing for this year alone. <br><br>The overall budget for the reconstruction and recovery of Kosovo for 2000 is $1.3 billion, an amount that is just trickling in. The 3,500 houses that the European Union, the chief donor for reconstruction, pledged to build last year are only now being completed. Contracts for the 8,000 houses the union plans to build this year were only signed at the end of May, and the immense task of getting the construction materials into a province with poor roads, no seaport and only a small airport still lies ahead. <br><br>By 2002, Mr. Lewarne said, the aid is likely to run out, and Kosovo will be left to the dynamics of the private housing market. "We are not going to repair or rebuild everyone's home -- we do not have the internal budget," he said. "Even if we were able to, it would not be a good idea, it would not be good governance." <br><br>Many Kosovo families have the means to build houses, yet it is clear that thousands will never get their houses rebuilt. <br><br>Perhaps the very poorest Kosovars are those in refugee centers, or the few who never made it back from camps in Albania or Macedonia. Macedonia hopes the 900 Kosovo Albanians still in its care will get home this year. Hamdi and Elheme Bardiqi, an elderly couple, remain in a camp in Macedonia dependent on houdouts because their home in central Kosovo was burned and they gave what little money they had to a son so he could rebuild part of it. The son and his wife have eight children, so it is too crowded to join them. <br><br>In the Macedonian village of Radusa, where thousands camped in tents last year, there are just a few families now living in refugee housing. They are apathetic and depressed. <br><br>Izet Rama, 42, a farmer, who lives in one set of rooms with his wife and six children, said: "We do feel left behind. We don't feel good at all. There is nothing to compare to your own country." But he is cautious about going home, for his house is burned, and he clearly does not want to give up what he has. <br><br>On the edge of Pristina, in a suburb called Germia, is a typical refugee center, immediately recognizable by the lines of washing hanging in the garden. A former school, it is now home to 38 families, and smells strongly of unwashed, crowded humanity. <br><br>Isa Plakiqi, 62, and his two sons live there. Leaning against the door of his room, dressed in a characteristic Albanian white felt hat that is dirty and yellow with age, Mr. Plakiqi told how he lost his wife and daughter in an artillery attack by Serbian forces last year. At the end of the war, he returned from their refuge high in the mountains with his sons, one of whom is an invalid, and found that his house in Drenica, in central Kosovo, had been leveled with a bulldozer. "We didn't have a tent, just a sheet of plastic, and some people came and photographed us, and then they brought us here," he said. <br><br>"Ninety houses in the village were destroyed," Mr. Plakiqi said. "They promised to rebuild them. They said I would be the first in line, but I don't trust them anymore." He said he had no money to rebuild. <br><br>"If they gave me the building materials, I would build the house myself," he said. "I would be slow, because I am an invalid, but I just would like to have my own house again. I am old and just want to die there." <br><br>But not everyone wants to return to the villages. Shefkia and Omer Zogjani are torn between city and village. With their three children, they moved into a Serbian house in Pristina last summer after they found their house and village destroyed. Grabovac, or Grabofc as it is called in Albanian, is a small mining village tucked into the hillside and lies just 10 miles from Pristina. All but one of the 47 houses are burnt. <br><br>"They did not even leave the outhouses standing," Mr. Zogjani said. <br><br>When he occupied a Serbian house in the city last year, he thought that he had solved his problems. Now he is not sure that he will be able to keep it. He earns a small wage at the mine in Grabovac and said he could not afford to rebuild his village house. And while he is in the city, he is unlikely to get any aid. <br><br>In the village, his relatives face even more uncertainty. From outside his tent on the hillside, Dalip Zogjani, 51, a cousin of Omer, stared down at the village below him, his hands on his hips, his eyes crinkled against the harsh sun. A year after he returned from Macedonia, the houses remain charred ruins, their blackened roof timbers poking into the sky, weeds growing in the living rooms. <br><br>"The grass was up to your waist," he said. "No one had lived here for two years since the Serb police occupied it." Nearby, a cousin, Banush Zogjani, who spent the war hiding in the mountains, cleared a small garden in front of a house whose roof was destroyed. <br><br>Only 7 of the 47 families who lived here have returned, living in tents and clearing away the rubble of broken tiles and glass. They are busy digging their garden and growing vegetables for the winter. <br><br>Only two families received aid last year and have plastic sheeting stretched over new wooden beams for a makeshift roof. Their bathrooms and kitchens are open to the sky. There is no school and no shop, and life is tough in winter, when Dalip Zogjani lived here with his 12-year-old son, brushing snow from the tent each morning. <br><br>He came back to Kosovo last July, and lodged his wife and children with a friend in a neighboring town. But his elderly mother insisted on returning home to the tent in the garden. "She was 86, she was sick, but she did not want to live in the city," he said. "I carried her on my back to the refugee camps, and then I carried her back home. She died here in our tent last October." </font><br></p> <a name="newsitem962870811,92879,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>Milosevic allies call for change of constitution to prolong his rule</center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000"><br>BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (AP) _ President Slobodan Milosevic's allies asked parliament Wednesday to make changes to the Yugoslav constitution that legal experts say could enable Milosevic to seek re-election after his term expires next year. <br>The proposals also include changes in the election of the federal parliament _ a move that could downgrade the position of Montenegro, Serbia's smaller, pro-Western partner in the Yugoslav federation. <br><br>Such a move could push the republic toward declaring independence or risk coming increasingly dominated by Milosevic's central government. <br><br>According to the official Tanjug news agency, deputies from Milosevic's ruling coalition proposed that the president of Yugoslavia be elected directly by the voters rather than appointed by the assembly's two chambers. <br><br>That was the system used when Milosevic became Yugoslav president in 1997. Parliament, which is controlled by Milosevic, takes up the issue Thursday. Changes in the constitution require only parliamentary approval. <br><br>Milosevic's allies argued that direct election conferred "the greatest possible democratic legitimacy" to the institution of the president. <br><br>However, some legal experts said the proposal paves the way for the re-election of Milosevic, who under the present system is constitutionally barred from a second term. By changing the election rules, Milosevic's allies could argue that the current ban on him running again does not apply. <br><br>Milosevic has been indicted by the international war crimes tribunal in The Hague for atrocities committed during the crackdown in Kosovo, which triggered the 78-day NATO bombing campaign. Staying in power would be Milosevic's best guarantee against prosecution. <br><br>The proposal also calls for direct election of deputies in the upper chamber of the Yugoslav parliament _ which includes 20 deputies from Serbia and 20 from Montenegro. Deputies are currently elected by the parliaments of both republics. <br><br>Many Montenegrin candidates, however, would stand little chance since their republic has only 600,000 people compared with 10 million in Serbia. <br><br>Montenegro's reformist leadership has already made several steps toward independence from Yugoslavia. <br><br>"This (proposal) is the last act of the tragic political destruction," warned a top Montenegrin official, Miodrag Vukovic. "What remains is for Montenegro to defend itself, its state, democratic structures and its right to future." <br><br>Serbian opposition leader Zoran Djindjic called the plan "a most serious blow for the federal state because it will destroy constitutional equality between Serbia and Montenegro." <br><br>Another opposition leader, Vuk Draskovic, said the move constituted "a form of legal state terrorism and an attack on the constitution." <br></font><br></p> <a name="newsitem962870786,61,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>Montenegro says Milosevic destroying Yugoslavia</center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000">PODGORICA, Yugoslavia (Reuters) - Montenegro accused Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic Wednesday of dealing a final blow to its troubled union with Serbia with a sudden proposal to change the constitution. <br>"This is the final act of the political destruction of Yugoslavia," said Miodrag Vukovic, adviser to Montenegro's pro-Western president, referring to proposals due to be discussed by the Yugoslav parliament Thursday. <br><br>The proposed constitutional changes would allow Milosevic to win a new term of office through a popular ballot. Currently he is elected by parliament and cannot run twice. <br><br>The change would also mean direct elections for the upper chamber of the Yugoslav parliament, thereby bypassing the Montenegrin parliament. <br><br>"With this move Thursday, Milosevic is showing who is destroying the state of Serbia and Montenegro," Vukovic told Reuters. <br><br>"We have yet to see what is his final ambition -- to rule with no limits in Yugoslavia or create a Yugoslavia without Montenegro," he said. <br><br>Montenegro is Serbia's junior partner in the Yugoslav Federation. <br><br>Milosevic's officials regularly accuse Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic -- who has won control of the economy, foreign policy and some borders from Belgrade over the past two years -- of trying to split Yugoslavia. <br><br>Montenegro retorts by saying it is Milosevic who is pushing it away. <br><br>Montenegro's parliament halted its session Wednesday when it heard the news of the proposals and will resume work on Tuesday once the constitutional changes are known. <br><br>Members of Montenegro's pro-Belgrade Socialist People's Party (SNP) were reported to be backing the changes. <br><br>"Many SNP deputies were not in parliament today, so they must have been taken to Belgrade secretly to vote for these changes," Dragan Djurovic, chairman of the deputy club of Djukanovic's party in the Montenegrin parliament, told Reuters. <br><br></font><br></p> <a name="newsitem962870764,34301,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>Montenegro says Milosevic may be planning coup</center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000">PODGORICA, Yugoslavia, July 5 (Reuters) - Montenegro has accused Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic of using the army units based in the republic to stir tensions and pave the way for a coup there, newspapers said on Wednesday. <br>The accusation follows an army statement that fiercely criticised Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic, who has pulled the coastal republic away from Milosevic's government in Belgrade over the past two years. <br><br>"The (army) statement represents political support for Milosevic's servants in Montenegro and an appeal for further political destruction aimed at provoking a coup," the Vijesti daily quoted Montenegrin Deputy Premier Dragisa Burzan as saying. <br><br>Burzan was referring to the Socialist People's Party (SNP), a pro-Serb Montenegrin party loyal to Milosevic which is in opposition to Djukanovic's government. <br><br>"These are preparations for a 'hot autumn' in which Milosevic's rule will be 'constitutionally' defended from the citizens of Serbia and Montenegro," Burzan said. <br><br>The army said on Tuesday the activities of Djukanovic and his government were dangerous and violated the interests of the army and people of Yugoslavia and Montenegro, the smaller of the two republics left in the federation. <br><br>"Milo Djukanovic is spreading a thesis, very dangerous for the survival of Yugoslavia, that Serbia is the biggest European problem and the reason why the Balkans continue to be a potential flashpoint," the army said. <br><br>The Yugoslav Army says its public statements are aimed only at clarifying a distorted picture of events in Yugoslavia. <br><br>But Burzan accused it of violating its neutral status and said Montenegro would defend itself from any attempt to impose Milosevic's will in the republic. <br><br>"We will do everything we can to preserve civil peace, but the army's taking politics in its own hands indicates that conflicts have been planned in Montenegro," Burzan said. <br><br>Serbian opposition leader Zoran Djindjics said he did not think the army was planning anything. <br><br>"I think this is only a propaganda war...between Belgrade and Podgorica," he told a news conference. "I do not think Milosevic would need such media preparations." <br></font><br></p> <a name="newsitem962870740,54055,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>The Times: Colonel 'caught in brothel'</center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000"><br>BY CONAL URQUHART <br><br>A SENIOR Army officer is to be sent home from Kosovo after he was allegedly caught by military police in a brothel. <br>Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Buxton, 43, was reported to have been found by an anti-vice squad in one of Pristina's many brothels. It is believed that the father-of-two has been relieved of his duties and is due to be sent home. He could face a disciplinary hearing and court martial. <br><br>The Ministry of Defence said last night that it was aware of the incident. <br><br>Lieutenant-Colonel Buxton was posted to Kosovo as a liaison officer with the 2nd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. <br></font><br></p> <a name="newsitem962870714,25393,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>The Independent: Constitution change could keep Milosevic in power </center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000"><br><br>By Fredrik Dahl in Belgrade <br><br><br>6 July 2000 <br><br>The Yugoslav parliament plans to discuss constitutional changes today that could allow President Slobodan Milosevic, indicted by a UN court as a war criminal, to win a new term of office through a popular ballot. <br><br>The state news agency outlined changes yesterday that it said had been proposed by deputies of the ruling coalition led by Mr Milosevic, whose term is due to expire in 2001. Currently, the President is elected by parliament and cannot run twice. <br><br>Opposition deputies complained that they had not received the proposals and said the secretive and hasty procedure – with parliament's constitutional commission due to review the proposal an hour before the session – was illegal. <br><br>"Even though I am a member of the constitutional commission, I have not received the text of the draft changes to the constitution and I was told they could not be sent by fax," said Laszlo Jozsa of the Vojvodina Hungarians Alliance. "The constitution is not supposed to be changed in this way but it seems that in this country nobody cares about that." <br><br>A deputy of the opposition Serbian Renewal Movement said a "kind of constitutional coup" was being prepared. "This is what we call legalisation of tyranny," said Tomislav Jeremic. <br><br>A source close to the government said the move would allow Mr Milosevic to extend his term. "All this is about keeping him in power as long as possible," he said. <br><br>Bratislav Grubacic, the editor of the English-language newsletter VIP, said that by turning the post into a directly elected one, Mr Milosevic could get around the present one-term restriction on the position. <br><br>"It would be the fulfilment of Milosevic's old dream to be elected as federal president," Mr Grubacic said, noting that there was no obvious competing candidate. <br><br>The Western-leaning leaders of Montenegro – Serbia's junior partner in the Yugoslav Federation – were caught off- guard by the proposals, which would also undermine their authority.(Reuters) <br><br>* Miroslav Filipovic, a Serbian journalist jailed for espionage after The Independent published an article by him detailing Serbian atrocities against Kosovo Albanians, has won the European Internet Journalist of the Year award. <br></font><br></p> <a name="newsitem962785047,22057,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>U.S. General's Independence Day Warning to People of Kosovo</center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000">CAMP BONDSTEEL, Jul 5, 2000 -- (Agence France Presse) The new commander of US troops in Kosovo warned locals Monday that he would withhold aid and refuse to escort humanitarian convoys if villagers continued to attack his troops.<br><br>General Randal Tieszen chose his country's Independence Day holiday to discuss publicly for the first time Task Force Falcon's mission in the southeast of the disputed province, which has recently been Kosovo's most volatile military sector.<br><br>He justified his decision to stop escorting Serbs from Strpce to Serbia and to freeze the delivery of around 580,000 marks (around 240,000 dollars) in aid to the village following a riot in which the local UN and military headquarters were ransacked. But he denied he was punishing the village.<br><br>"The sanctions were imposed because we were attacked. You cannot attack us and put your hand our for support or aid. It's not logical," he said.<br><br>"The communities that demonstrate that they care about peace, that they care about economic development, will get our support."<br><br>"I am prepared to never see another convoy go into Strpce if they refuse to cooperate with us," he warned, "We cannot be intimidated."<br><br>The general called on Serbs living in Strpce to publicly vow to cooperate with international authorities, remove roadblocks around the village and dismantle piles of stones he said had been stockpiled to be thrown at peacekeepers.<br><br>Tieszen took command of the KFOR multinational peacekeeping force in the ethnically mixed southeastern sector of Kosovo -- where he is in charge of some 5,500 US personnel, and around 1,500 troops from Russia, Poland, Greece, Lithuania and the United Arab Emirates -- on June 20.<br><br>Since then the area has suffered a new outburst of inter-ethnic violence and attacks on peacekeepers. When, on June 20 a Serbian shepherd went missing near the village of Strpce, local Serbs rioted and ransacked the local premises of KFOR and Kosovo's UN administration, UNMIK, demanding greater protection. The shepherd was later found dead.<br><br>"I share the concerns of the Serbs. A shepherd should be able to go out and tend to his flocks. It's barbaric what happened to this man, disgusting," the general said.<br><br>But he insisted that he had neither the troops not the resources to protect every person from Kosovo and urged communities to do more to cooperate and promote peace, rejecting the idea that a handful of extremists were to blame for the recent tension.<br><br>"Communities can not attack us and they can not allow extremists to attack us," he said, calling on local people to act with "common sense, dignity and respect."<br><br>Tieszen, speaking at the United States' huge military base at Camp Bondsteel 32 kilometers (20 miles) south of the provincial capital Pristina, also rejected suggestions that the strong line taken in his sector was evidence of US bias against Serbs.<br><br>"I'm not from the Balkans. I don't care whether the people I'm dealing with are Albanians or Serbs. I just don't care," he said.<br><br>Asked if he had an Independence Day message for the people of Kosovo, Tieszen said that his own country had suffered from civil war, but urged people in Kosovo to find a non-violent solution to their differences.<br><br>Kosovo has been under UN administration since June last year, when the arrival of KFOR, the retreat of Yugoslav forces and the demilitarization of ethnic Albanian separatist guerrillas brought to an end a civil war in the province. ((c) 2000 Agence France Presse) </font><br></p> <a name="newsitem962785029,34051,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>Swiss to Speed Up Expulsions of Kosovo Refugees</center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000">GENEVA, Jul 5, 2000 -- (Reuters) Switzerland will more than double the rate of its deportations of Kosovo refugees after the end of the summer, the federal office for refugees said on Tuesday. It said Switzerland, which took in tens of thousands of Kosovans last year, plans to send 10,000 of them by the end of the year back to the province where Serbs and ethnic Albanians fought until a NATO-led bombing campaign forced Serb forces to withdraw in June 1999.<br><br>Some 18,500 Kosovans left Switzerland voluntarily last year under a Swiss government program that included cash handouts of up to 2,000 Swiss francs ($1,222) per adult and 1,000 Swiss francs per child, said the office's spokesman Dominique Boillat.<br><br>The deadline for the sponsored voluntary departures expired at the end of May and the number of forced returns would now increase, he said.<br><br>The increase in the pace of expulsions comes despite warnings from United Nations officials that the devastated Yugoslav province can't cope with large numbers of returnees.<br><br>The top UN official in Kosovo, Bernard Kouchner, urged Switzerland in May to go slow in sending the refugees back home.<br><br>Boillat said Switzerland was negotiating the rate of returns with the United Nations in Kosovo on a monthly basis.<br><br>The number of deportations is expected to rise to 750 each in June, July and August compared to 500 a month earlier in the year, he added.<br><br>"Our aim is 750 forced returns a month for the summer months. But after September, we will speed up the forced repatriations." He said the figure could rise to up to 2,000.<br><br>Despite the end of the official cash incentives, voluntary returns were expected to continue at a rate of up to 4,000 in the three months from June, Boillat said. Switzerland is home to an estimated 150,000 ethnic Albanians who provide cheap labor in jobs the Swiss do not want. In addition to that figure, Boillat said the country was host to some 60,000 asylum seekers from Kosovo.</font><br></p> <a name="newsitem962785018,3417,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>Swiss to Speed Up Expulsions of Kosovo Refugees</center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000">GENEVA, Jul 5, 2000 -- (Reuters) Switzerland will more than double the rate of its deportations of Kosovo refugees after the end of the summer, the federal office for refugees said on Tuesday. It said Switzerland, which took in tens of thousands of Kosovans last year, plans to send 10,000 of them by the end of the year back to the province where Serbs and ethnic Albanians fought until a NATO-led bombing campaign forced Serb forces to withdraw in June 1999.<br><br>Some 18,500 Kosovans left Switzerland voluntarily last year under a Swiss government program that included cash handouts of up to 2,000 Swiss francs ($1,222) per adult and 1,000 Swiss francs per child, said the office's spokesman Dominique Boillat.<br><br>The deadline for the sponsored voluntary departures expired at the end of May and the number of forced returns would now increase, he said.<br><br>The increase in the pace of expulsions comes despite warnings from United Nations officials that the devastated Yugoslav province can't cope with large numbers of returnees.<br><br>The top UN official in Kosovo, Bernard Kouchner, urged Switzerland in May to go slow in sending the refugees back home.<br><br>Boillat said Switzerland was negotiating the rate of returns with the United Nations in Kosovo on a monthly basis.<br><br>The number of deportations is expected to rise to 750 each in June, July and August compared to 500 a month earlier in the year, he added.<br><br>"Our aim is 750 forced returns a month for the summer months. But after September, we will speed up the forced repatriations." He said the figure could rise to up to 2,000.<br><br>Despite the end of the official cash incentives, voluntary returns were expected to continue at a rate of up to 4,000 in the three months from June, Boillat said. Switzerland is home to an estimated 150,000 ethnic Albanians who provide cheap labor in jobs the Swiss do not want. In addition to that figure, Boillat said the country was host to some 60,000 asylum seekers from Kosovo.</font><br></p> <a name="newsitem962696412,42879,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>USA TODAY : Milosevic's grip on power not likely to loosen Opposition has little hope that elections will be fair </center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000">By David J. Lynch<br><br>BELGRADE, Yugoslavia -- His usually quarrelsome political opponents are uniting against him. There's even tantalizing talk of a U.S.-brokered deal that could send him into exile.<br><br>But a little more than one year after NATO's war with Yugoslavia, President Slobodan Milosevic's grip on power is as strong as ever.<br><br>He may have led his nation into three losing wars and earned indictment as a war criminal, but Milosevic also has demonstrated an uncanny instinct for political survival.<br><br>''After NATO airstrikes, Milosevic was weak and ready to fall, but the opposition wasn't ready,'' political commentator Bratislav Grubacic says. ''Milosevic doesn't have a single idea to step down. He is under no pressure internally.''<br><br>At one level, Yugoslavia is little changed from before the war. Electricity supplies have returned to normal. The cafes along Belgrade's main pedestrian boulevard are full, and McDonald's has even added a franchise to its local outlets.<br><br>That doesn't mean the Yugoslav leader lacks political problems. Analysts say a student-led resistance movement called Otpor seems especially to have spooked the regime. Likewise, polling by the Medijum agency over the past year showed that 51%-59% of Serbs want Milosevic to resign.<br><br>In a May survey, 62% of those queried said Serbia, which with Montenegro makes up the Yugoslav federation, is heading in the wrong direction.<br><br>It's not difficult to see why. Persistent gasoline shortages mean that cars wait routinely in three-block-long lines to fill up at the Jugopetrol filling station in the Novi Belgrade neighborhood. Young people at soccer games serenade one another with chants of ''Slobo, save Serbia and kill yourself.'' Goran Pitic, a prominent economist, reckons that after a decade of warfare and political turmoil, it will take Yugoslavia perhaps two decades to build its economic output back to what it was in 1989. <br><br>Reminders of the NATO-Yugoslavia war over the separatist province of Kosovo linger in the devastated government buildings downtown along Kneza Milosa, which locals have nicknamed the ''street of death.''<br><br>Yugoslav Information Minister Goran Matic scoffs at the polls as ''foolish.'' He adds, ''We'll see in the election.''<br><br>This fall, Yugoslavia is scheduled to hold elections for municipal and federal parliamentary offices. Opposition figures worry that with the United States preoccupied by a presidential campaign, Milosevic might crack down on dissent without fear of strong U.S. response.<br><br>Prospects for a fair election are further clouded by:<br><br>* A proposed ''anti-terrorism'' law that would allow the police to jail individuals for up to 30 days before charging them with a crime.<br><br>* Ongoing strategy disputes within the habitually querulous opposition.<br><br>* Indications that Montenegro's government, long at odds with Milosevic, might boycott the parliamentary contests.<br><br>Several opposition parties are running on a united electoral ticket, which enjoys a solid lead over Milosevic's ruling coalition in major polls.<br><br>However, the largest single opposition party, the Serbian Renewal Movement, which has about 10% support, has quit the ticket.<br><br>There is a widespread assumption that the real showdown won't come until next year's elections for Serbian republic offices.<br><br>Vuk Draskovic, the Serbian Renewal Movement's charismatic leader, says a fair political contest is impossible. The Yugoslav president has tightened controls on universities and the independent press. Milosevic wants to use rigged elections to legitimize his rule, according to Draskovic.<br><br>A major opposition worry is the proposed anti-terrorism law, which the regime says is needed to battle anti-Milosevic violence such as the recent shootings of prominent political figures. Opposition leaders say the measure's expansive police powers and broad definition of ''terrorism'' could herald the rise of a police state.<br><br>Milan Protic, a U.S.-educated academic leading a small anti-Milosevic party, says the opposition must contest the elections. ''We are limited to the democratic path,'' Protic says. ''We can't get into a power struggle; we do not have any power.''<br><br>The political skirmishing is accompanied by a striking fatalism on the opposition's part. With the prospect of being turned over by his successor to war crimes prosecutors at the Hague, Netherlands, almost no one thinks Milosevic can be dislodged peacefully:<br><br>* ''There is absolutely no theoretical possibility that Milosevic will lose power through elections,'' says Predrag Simic, an adviser for Draskovic.<br><br>* ''I can't imagine a normal way for him to go,'' says Dragan Soc, Montenegro's justice minister. ''He closed every door for a peaceful solution. . . . My impression is his decision is to rule even if the cost is his life.''<br><br>* ''I don't have any illusion that we can get rid of Milosevic without casualties,'' says Cedomir Jovanovic of the Democratic Party of Serbia.<br><br>Those who favor a regime change concede they essentially are waiting for a military coup or a deal that would send Milosevic and his powerful wife, Mira, into exile in return for immunity from war-crimes prosecution.<br><br>Matic denounces such talk as ''ridiculous propaganda . . . clearly stupid.'' Officially, Washington says it won't bargain with an indicted war criminal.<br><br>Milosevic and his opponents agree on one point: Both want to see the U.S. policy of isolating Yugoslavia scrapped. A travel ban keeps the regime's government and private supporters penned inside Serbia. Financial sanctions bar Yugoslavia from accessing international credit markets.<br><br>Some democracy activists say that by strangling the economy, sanctions have eviscerated the pro-democracy middle-class and given Milosevic an excuse for the many hardships of daily life.<br><br>Milosevic, meanwhile, is said to believe that any new U.S. administration might rethink its Balkans policy.<br><br>''The (next) American administration -- it doesn't matter which (political party) -- can't have a worse policy than this one,'' Matic says. ''They bombed us for three months, eight years of sanctions, made Nazis out of Serbs. What else can they do? Just throw the atomic bomb?''</font><br></p> <a name="newsitem962696386,58931,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>Central Europe Review : Refighting Kosova </center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000">A Kosovar's perspective <br>Fatmir Zajmi <br><br>I have, as a Kosova Albanian, accepted the challenge of "defending" the legality of what I consider the most humanitarian and generous international act of the post-Second World War period: NATO's intervention in Kosova in 1999.<br><br>On the whole, I feel that the discussion surrounding this issue has been poisoned by hasty "revisionist scholarship," emanating from doctrinaire Serbophiles, nay-saying journalists, and former politicians and high officials with axes to grind. One need look no further than individuals in my new Canadian home, such as Mihailo Crnobrnja (former Yugoslav ambassador to the EC, now a scholar in Canada at McGill University); Richard Gwyn of the Toronto Star; and James Bisset, Canada's former ambassador to the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia. <br><br>For these men, discussion of NATO's intervention in Kosova principally takes one of two forms: denial of the truth to bolster their own national views, or denial of the truth in order to further their own personal ambitions. From my perspective, denying the legality of NATO intervention is advocating an evil, collaborating with the perpetrators who forced nearly two million human beings from their homes, killing as many as 10,000 and raping countless others. <br><br>Perhaps even more important, however, is that the answer to the question "What was the legal basis for NATO's intervention in Kosova" touches on issues far wider than the Serbo-Kosovan struggle. <br><br>At stake: the future of humanitarianism<br><br>What is at stake and at-issue are nothing less than the future of humanitarian intervention, its position in the hierarchy of international law and the relative impotence of the United Nations and its Security Council as global authorities for the preservation of peace and international law and order. This is a point on which many are in agreement, including the Kosova Albanian political leader Hashim Thaçi, who stated that questioning the legality of the NATO war against Serbia, over the issue of Kosova, is typical of the hypocrisy and inhumanity of revisionists, for "without NATO bombing, the world's shame would still have been going on in Kosova."<br><br>In the end, I feel that the debate is a political issues as much as it is a legal one for, unfortunately, as I illustrate in these pages, the legality of NATO intervention in Kosova is clear, although it represents a significant departure from international norms and laws as established during the Cold War and very early post-Cold War period. <br><br>NATO's actions in implementing Security Council Resolutions on Kosova not only hastened and implemented radical, necessary changes in international laws and norms of behaviour, but also validated a change in international consciousness brought about by the blood on the hands of the international community in the wake of its inaction at Srebrenica and in the Rwandan genocide. Indeed, NATO's actions validated the overthrow of the morally bankrupt policies which marked international policies in the decade that preceded it. <br><br>P5 politics<br><br>The major players in this political game are China and Russia, members of the "P5" or "Perm5," who, along with the United States, the United Kingdom and France, constitute the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. Russia and China have remained staunchly opposed to NATO intervention in the Balkans not on legal grounds, but for political reasons having to do with concerns about their own problem associated with sovereignty and ethnic minorities. <br><br>Together with Serbia and Iraq, they are the international community's biggest backers of the "absolute inviolability" of state sovereignty for the simple reason that they are the worst violators of international human rights laws. In concerted, premeditated cooperation, these nations campaign for the "status quo," or pre-1990, definition of international law and order, and of "respect" for the emasculated organizations of the United Nations and, in particular, the Security Council.<br><br>Why? Russia has its Chechnya, a war of questionable legality whose brutal tactics have been roundly condemned by the international community. China has its own human rights problems, ranging from repression of dissidents to the oppression of its northern Muslim minority, while Iraq continues to persecute its Kurdish minority at the same time as working to become a nuclear power.<br><br>The primary threat to the political ambitions of the "NATO nay sayers" is the present trend toward considering international human rights law as entailing erga omnes obligations, that is: obligations that states must respect in all circumstances, without any contractual expectation, or the requirement of reciprocity. <br><br>The third exception<br><br>International humanitarian and human rights law can already be considered a strong body of law allowing intervention on humanitarian grounds. There is no doubt that humanitarian intervention has become a third exception to the UN prohibition against "The threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state." <br><br>Thus, governments which are abusing internationally recognized provisions on state sovereignty, and certain Security Council members that are clearly abusing their veto power by blocking legitimate Security Council motions they perceive as being contrary to their own interests, are the losers in this game. <br><br>On the other side are NATO and other Western nations who, through their humanitarian intervention, have effectively implemented the spirit of the 1998 Security Council resolutions on Kosova, sending a strong message to the international community that the Security Council alone does not enjoy an absolute monopoly on the international use of force in specific legal instances in which moral and legal actions are blocked for purely political reasons.<br><br>Parallels with the SFRY<br><br>Somehow, the United Nations' Charter and, in particular, the Security Council structure, reminds me of the 1974 Constitution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the nature of the SFRY Presidency, particularly as they are based on similarly ambiguous and contradictory norms open to broad interpretation. <br><br>In the political sense, the Security Council is, as a political body, impotent and handicapped by politically-motivated vetoes by members of the P5, analogous to the former Yugoslav Presidency as it was constituted by eight representatives of equal units in the Federation. In practice, this allowed Serbia, in 1989, to strip the autonomy of two legally equal federal units, turning them into de facto colonies. <br><br>In practice, the presidents of Kosova and Vojvodina became merely nominal representatives of these two "equal" units at the Yugoslav presidency, while in fact their status in this political body was limited by their de facto status as puppets of the Serbian regime in Belgrade. Serbia also came to enjoy the vote of its satellite sister republic of Montenegro, whose leadership was removed by Miloševic and his cronies, to be replaced by Serbian loyalists.<br><br>Serbia was thus granted a veto power legally and practically different, yet functionally similar, to that enjoyed by members of the P5 – and exercised on the same political bases as Russia and China. <br><br>Further functional similarities between the 1974 Yugoslav Constitution and the UN Charter are evident in their respective impacts on the innocents of the world. Just as the structural flaws of the Yugoslav Constitution merged with political currents to generate four Serbian wars in the 1990s, inconsistencies in the United Nations Charter allowed a lack of political will and general obstructionism by key members to translate into the massacres at Srebrenica and genocide in Rwanda.<br><br>Law, order and international politics<br><br>Finally, it is necessary to lay out some thoughts on the basics of international law and order. According to the renowned international law scholar I L M Shaw, "probably the first reaction upon an introduction to international law (order) is to question its legal equality." Clearly, this is the case with respect to debate on NATO's intervention in Kosova. Here, we see that views of international law and enforcement mechanisms are highly malleable and, indeed, subject to interpretation through almost strictly political lenses. <br><br>Consider, for example, Shaw's further analysis:<br><br>It is recalled that in practically every international dispute, both sides proclaim there adherence to the principles of the system, and declare that they are acting in accordance with its provisions. It is alleged, for example, that the other side has committed unprovoked aggression, and the only suitable reaction is to follow the dictates of the rules governing self-defense, or perhaps that the principles of self-determination have been ignored and the values of international law must be upheld.<br>International law has no legislature. True, there is the General Assembly of the United Nations, comprising delegates from all member-states, but its resolutions are not legally binding on anybody save for certain of the organs of the UN for certain purposes. There is no system of courts.<br>The International Court of Justice does exist at the Hague, but it can only decide cases when both sides agree, and it can not ensure that its decisions are complied with. It is important, but is only peripheral to the international community. Above all, there is no executive or governing entity. The Security Council of the UN, which was intended to have such a role in a sense, has been effectively constrained by the veto power of the five permanent members.<br>Thus, if there is no identifiable institution either to establish rules or clarify them, or see that those who break them are punished, how can what is called international law be law? Without a legislature, judiciary and executive, one cannot talk about a legal order.<br><br>Similarly, on the relationship between international law and international politics and policy, Shaw notes that, "it is clear that there can never be a complete separation between law and policy. No matter what theory of law or political philosophy is professed, the inextricable bonds linking law and politics must be recognized."<br><br>However, when one looks at the international legal scene, one finds that politics are much closer to the heart of the system, therefore the interplay of law and politics in world affairs is much more complex and difficult to unravel. It should thus hardly be surprising when Shaw notes that:<br><br>The function of the UN system in the preservation and restoration of world peace has not been a tremendous success, and is very far from being comprehensive. It constitutes merely an additional factor in international dispute management, and is one particularly subject to political pressures. The UN has played a minimal part in some of the major conflicts and disputes [which have arisen] since its inception.<br>A poor track record<br><br>In fact, since the United Nations was formed, there have been more than 160 major wars in the world. It was only five years after the end of war in Bosnia that the UN finally admitted its responsibility in failing to prevent the massacre of as many as 7500 Bosnian Muslims at the "Safe Area" of Srebrenica, admitting that the international body had been responsible for errors, misjudgement, and "an inability to recognize the scope of evil confronting us." <br><br>Certain states, especially Serbia, discovered this "weakness" in the international body and the recidivist Serbian government, with its "premiere" at Srebrenica, discovered the impotence of the UN when it so easily destroyed a UN "safe haven" in front of the world's television cameras. By handcuffing UN peacekeepers, Serbia humiliated the international community, to the joy of certain members of the UN Security Council, certain that the "traditional" ineffectiveness of this political body guaranteed their impunity. <br><br>In addition to the record of UN failures in Southeastern Europe, we must add the horrifying mass slaughter in Rwanda, and the murder of thousands of innocent civilians in East Timor - it is only then that the importance of NATO intervention to prevent genocide in Kosova can be understood in its full context.<br><br>Pro and contra<br><br>What follows, then is a documentary analysis, examining issues raised by pundits and scholars on all ideological sides of the debate, in order to help the reader reformulate his or her own preconceptions.<br><br>In order to provide my modest contribution to the analysis of this complicated international legal-political issue, and to help bring a more objective judgement to the issue of NATO intervention than has been provided by the recent wave of revisionist punditry, it is necessary to examine the two dominant opinions of those opposed to NATO intervention. <br><br>The first, and perhaps most widely-articulated, argument holds that NATO intervention in Kosova was illegal, as it by-passed the UN Security Council in not obtaining that body's approval. In this, they claim that the Security Council is the only international body competent to authorize intervention on humanitarian -or other- grounds. <br><br>In the second instance, many have argued that NATO's intervention was illegal as it constituted an attack on a sovereign state on the basis of that state's domestic problems, thereby violating its territorial integrity. This, they claim, stems from Articles 2 and 4 of the UN Charter, prohibiting the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.<br><br>Open to interpretation<br><br>There are a wide variety of perspectives on what body may be competent to authorize an international intervention, particularly one involving the use of force. In a general sense, these are functions of the different political interests of the states in question, their power and position on the international stage, their understanding, respect and internalization of democratic values and human rights, individual nations' ideological perspectives and differences, and varying levels of respect and for the rule of international law and order. <br><br>To examine this problem, then, one should first begin with point one, particularly as it concerns the interests and political motivations of the parties to the conflict, including members of the Security Council, NATO nations and developing nations with complex domestic problems.<br><br>The most common "NATO nay-sayers" are not merely scholars with revisionist agendas, but rather totalitarian regimes such as Russia, China, Iraq, Libya and Serbia, as well as emerging states with complex domestic political situations involving irridenta and other entho/religious minority rights issues. <br><br>The role of national interests<br><br>Russia, for example, is still in a state of political and economic chaos, with large-scale dependence on financial support from western nations. As the still lingering war in Chechnya and spill-over into Dagestan have illustrated, the dissolution of the former Soviet Union may well not yet be completed, meaning Russia has domestic separatist issues with which to deal. These factors combine with Russia's efforts to redefine its global role to ensure that Russia has an almost "existential" interest in blocking many forms of Security Council resolutions through the exercise of its veto. <br><br>In the particular case of military action against rump Yugoslavia, Russia is motivated by concerns regarding its prestige as a world power; its need, given its dismal domestic human rights record, to prevent international action on human rights issues; and by its hundred-year-long (and largely unsuccessful) attempt to gain a strategic foothold in the Adriatic Sea through Serbia and Montenegro.<br><br>For its part, China not only has a dismal human rights record, ensuring it must remove humanitarian considerations from the field of possible motivators for international action, but also occupation/border issues and irridenta problems with Tibet, Thailand, and a population of roughly 60 million Muslims, predominantly on its northwestern borderlands, who present consistent challenges to Beijing's authority. <br><br>Next, Iraq is a totalitarian nation with one of the worst human rights records in the world, and seeks to enhance the primacy of state sovereignty not only to protect against this, but also as a result of its as-yet unsolved Kurdish minority problem. That Libya, long known in the international community as a pariah nation owing to its sponsorship in international terrorism, would have issues with an expansion of Western international law and order norms should hardly come as a surprise. <br><br>Furthermore, the Indian nation is faced with vast problems concerning domestic social unrest, minority issues, and seemingly perpetual clashes with Pakistan over the disputed Kashmiri territory - a factor complicated by its desire to keep international inspectors away from its newly-acquired nuclear capability.<br><br>Finally, then, there is Serbia, once a republic in the former Yugoslavia which in 1989 used force to suspend the autonomy of two formerly equal legal units of the Yugoslav state (Kosova and Vojvodina), and which has sparked four armed conflicts in the past decade. That Serbia is a kleptocratic state which is confirmed as harbouring at least 40 (and likely countless unconfirmed others) war crimes suspects would clearly militate against Serbian interest in allowing the universal enforcement of international humanitarian and human rights norms. <br><br>Strategically, then, this group has a complex but interlinked network of interests. First, they seek to minimize NATO's influence in the international arena by assailing its reputation and prestige with an eye toward creating internal cracks. Secondly, by occupying, or having in the past occupied, other nations and territories, they seek to represent those purely domestic issues, thereby invoking the UN Charter's provisions on the inviolability of state sovereignty in order to cover their actions. Finally, they work to prevent the rapid advancement and development of what I would call the "principle of humanitarian rights" in contrast with the Cold War era concept of the inviolability of state sovereignty.<br><br>The Kosovan perspective<br><br>From the perspective of Kosova Albanians both before, during, and after the action in question, NATO's intervention on behalf of those threatened with, and subject to, ethnic cleansing, was legal for a variety of reasons rooted in law and history.<br><br>Not only did it rectify an historical injustice committed by the Great Powers at the London Conference of 1913, in which Serbia was granted possession of the occupied territory of Kosova, but it recognized the declaration of sovereignty of the Kosovan people in 1943 and 1944, which was, in fact, backed by Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito. <br><br>At the Bujan Conference, Kosovan Partisan leaders came together to declare that they were supporting the Yugoslav Partisan struggle as it was the best means for the people of Kosova to enjoy some form of association with Albania proper.<br><br>At that time, both Tito and Edvard Kardelj acknowledged to Albanian President Enver Hoxha that "the best solution would be if Kosova were to be united with Albania, but because neither foreign nor domestic factors favour this, it must remain a compact province within the framework of Serbia" for the time-being.<br><br>Furthermore, the 1974 Constitution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia constituted Kosova as one of eight federal units –including rights to judicial and legislative autonomy and representation at the federal level independent of Serbian authorities– making it a Republic in everything but name, a status illegally revoked by Serbia with the connivance of federal politicians fearful of Serbian disruption.<br><br>Domestic indicators<br><br>These, however, were not the only historical injustices NATO rectified. It also did away with the speculative and unfairly unilateral decision of the Badinter Commission of 1991, which paved the road to international recognition for only the six equal federal units (the Republics), and the West's negligence in leaving humanitarian treatment for Kosova out of the Dayton Peace Accords. Both actions had the effect of formalizing the illegal 1989 annexation of Kosova and Vojvodina, in many respects repeating the outcome of 1913's London Conference.<br><br> <br>Furthermore, NATO intervention was a long-delayed, if not tacit, recognition that the people of Kosova had, in fact, spoken overwhelmingly of their desire for freedom and autonomy within Serbia, first through the Parliament of Kosova's proclamation of independence in 1991 - which was ratified by an overwhelming majority of Kosovars - and the subsequent free and fair presidential election of Dr Ibrahim Rugova.<br><br>Legal indicators<br><br>NATO intervention was, furthermore, legalized on the basis of international instruments and declarations. In the first instance, there is the 1948 United Nations Declaration on Human Rights, which not only bound nations to international norms and standards, but also imposed a duty to take measures to enforce its principles. To this, one might also add the 1949 Geneva Convention on international humanitarian law.<br><br>Democratic principles, also legally enshrined, contributed to the legal basis for intervention, particularly in a post-Cold War period that has seen the increasing primacy of the "human rights principle" over the inviolability of state sovereignty – as legal scholars and politicians the world over have recognized. Here, then, one cannot doubt the legitimacy of NATO as an internationally recognized and accepted alliance of 19 democratic nations. All 19 are not only members of the OSCE: their domestic political systems are based on the rule of law.<br><br>To this basis, one must also add legal instruments including the absolute internationalisation of the Kosova question by UN Security Council Resolutions 1160, 1199 and 1203 - the very resolutions that NATO intervention enforced. The Security Council had only the humanitarian will to condemn Serbia's illegal actions in Kosova, but not the fortitude to ensure that words were translated into actions. But in their legal findings under 1160, 1199 and 1203, they provided the final legal basis for intervention.<br><br>American understanding<br><br>The United States, as the leading NATO power, fully understood many of these points. In a letter dated 23 March 2000 to Trent Lott, the Republican Senate Majority Leader, US Presidential National Security Advisor Sandy Berger "justified going to war on the grounds that Serbian strongman Slobodan Miloševic was a repeat offender under international law, and a direct threat to the security" of Southeastern Europe. <br><br>"It is important to note," he wrote, "that... Miloševic initiated an aggressive war against the independent nation of Croatia in 1991; against the independent nation of Bosnia-Hercegovina in 1992; and is currently engaged in widespread repression of Kosova, whose constitutional guarantees of autonomy he unilaterally abrogated in 1989. Arguments based on Serbian 'sovereignty,'" he concluded, "are undercut by history."<br><br>Thus, the intervention of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization may only be seen as being illegal if the international community neglects the historical facts and legal and political declarations of the Kosova Albanian peoples through 1989 and, particularly, thereafter following the revocation of autonomy; and if it recognizes Serbia and Montenegro as the legal, international continuation of the former Yugoslavia.<br><br>Intervention may also be deemed illegal if one accepts that the repression of –and ethnic cleansing operations against– the people of Kosova is a legitimate domestic operation by the FRY as a sovereign nation-state; and, finally, accepts and perpetuates the irresponsible usage of the term "civil war" in the context of Kosova, instead of clearly labeling the conflict in question as an overt act of aggression by Serbia against the Kosovan people under Chapter VII, article 39 of the United Nations Charter.<br><br>As in the case of Bosnia, legal grounds for intervention were clear, and the international community appears to have internalized at least some of the lessons paid for in the blood of Bosnian people.</font><br></p> <a name="newsitem962608882,49743,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>The New York Times : U.N. Official Warns of Losing the Peace in Kosovo </center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000">By STEVEN ERLANGER<br><br>PRISTINA, Kosovo, July 2 -- As the humane "pillar" of the United Nations administration in Kosovo prepares to shut down, its job of emergency relief deemed to be over, its director has some advice for the next great international mission to rebuild a country: be prepared to invest as much money and effort in winning the peace as in fighting the war. <br><br>Dennis McNamara, the United Nations special envoy for humanitarian affairs, regional director for the United Nations high commissioner for refugees and a deputy to the United Nations chief administrator in Kosovo, Bernard Kouchner, leaves Kosovo proud of the way the international community saved lives here after the war, which ended a year ago. <br><br>Mr. McNamara helped to coordinate nearly 300 private and government organizations to provide emergency shelter, food, health care and transport to nearly one million Kosovo Albanian refugees who have returned. <br><br>Despite delays in aid and reconstruction, including severe shortages of electricity and running water, no one is known to have died here last winter from exposure or hunger. Up to half of the population -- 900,000 people a day -- was fed by international agencies last winter and spring, and a program to clear land mines and unexploded NATO ordnance is proceeding apace. <br><br>But Mr. McNamara, 54, a New Zealander who began his United Nations refugee work in 1975 with the exodus of the Vietnamese boat people, is caustic about the continuing and worsening violence against non-Albanian minorities in Kosovo, especially the remaining Serbs and Roma, or Gypsies. He says the United Nations, Western governments and NATO have been too slow and timid in their response. <br><br>"There was from the start an environment of tolerance for intolerance and revenge," he said. "There was no real effort or interest in trying to deter or stop it. There was an implicit endorsement of it by everybody -- by the silence of the Albanian political leadership and by the lack of active discouragement of it by the West." <br><br>Action was needed, he said, in the first days and weeks, when the old images of Albanians forced out of Kosovo on their tractors were replaced by Serbs fleeing Kosovo on their tractors, and as it became clear that the effort to push minorities out of Kosovo was continuing and organized. <br><br>"This is not why we fought the war," Mr. McNamara said. He noted that in recent weeks there had been a new spate of comments by Western leaders, including President Clinton, Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright and the NATO secretary general, Lord Robertson, warning the Albanians that the West would not continue its support for Kosovo if violence against minorities continued at such a pace and in organized fashion. <br><br>But previous warnings and admonitions have not been followed by any action, Mr. McNamara noted. In general, he and others suggested, there is simply a tendency to put an optimistic gloss on events here and to avoid confrontation with former guerrillas who fought for independence for Kosovo or with increasingly active gangs of organized criminals. <br><br>"This violence against the minorities has been too prolonged and too widespread not to be systematic," Mr. McNamara said, giving voice to views that he has made known throughout his time here. "We can't easily say who's behind it, but we can say we have not seen any organized effort to stop it or any effort to back up the rhetoric of tolerance from Albanian leaders with any meaningful action." <br><br>In the year since NATO took over complete control of Kosovo and Serbian troops and policemen left the province, there have been some 500 killings, a disproportionate number of them committed against Serbs and other minorities. <br><br>But there has not been a single conviction. The judicial system is still not functioning, and local and international officials here say that witnesses are intimidated or killed and are afraid to come forward, pressure has been put on some judges to quit and many of those arrested for murder and other serious crimes have been released, either because of lack of prison space or the inability to bring them to trial. <br><br>Only recently has the United Nations decided to bring in international prosecutors and judges, but finding them and persuading them to come to Kosovo has not been easy. And foreign governments have been very slow to send the police officers they promised to patrol the streets. <br><br>Now, some 3,100 of a promised 4,800 have arrived, although Mr. Kouchner wanted 6,000. The big problem, Mr. McNamara said, is the generally poor quality of the police officers who have come, some of whom have had to be sent home because they could neither drive nor handle their weapons. And coordination between the police and the military has been haphazard and slow. <br><br>"The West should have started to build up institutions of a civil society from day one," Mr. McNamara said. "And there should have been a wide use of emergency powers by the military at the beginning to prevent the growth of this culture of impunity, where no one is punished. I'm a human rights lawyer, but I'd break the rules to establish order and security at the start, to get the word out that it's not for free." <br><br>Similarly, the NATO troops that form the backbone of the United Nations peacekeeping force here were too cautious about breaking down the artificial barrier created by the Serbs in the northern Kosovo town of Mitrovica, Mr. McNamara said. <br><br>Northern Mitrovica is now inhabited almost entirely by Serbs, marking an informal partition of Kosovo that extends up to the province's border with the rest of Serbia, creating a zone where the Yugoslav government of President Slobodan Milosevic exercises significant control, infuriating Kosovo's Albanian majority. <br><br>"Having allowed Mitrovica to slip away in the first days and weeks, it's very hard to regain it now," Mr. McNamara said. "Why wasn't there strong action to take control of Mitrovica from the outset? We're living with the consequences of that now." <br><br>In the last two months, as attacks on Serbs have increased again in Kosovo, Serbs in northern Mitrovica have attacked United Nations aid workers, equipment and offices, causing Mr. McNamara to pull aid workers temporarily out of the town. After promises from the effective leader of the northern Mitrovica Serbs, Oliver Ivanovic, those workers returned. <br><br>Another significant problem has been the lack of a "unified command" of the peacekeeping troops, Mr. McNamara said. Their overall commander, currently a Spanish general, cannot order around the troops of constituent countries. Washington controls the American troops, Paris the French ones and so on. <br><br>And there are no common rules of engagement or behavior in the various countries' military sectors of Kosovo. <br><br>"The disparities in the sectors are real," Mr. McNamara said. And after American troops were stoned as they tried to aid French troops in Mitrovica last spring, the Pentagon ordered the American commander here not to send his troops out of the American sector of Kosovo. <br><br>While the Pentagon denies a blanket ban, officers in the Kosovo peacekeeping operation support Mr. McNamara's assertion. They say no commanders here want to risk their troops in the kind of significant confrontation required to break down the ethnic barriers of Mitrovica. <br><br>The United Nations has had difficulties of organization and financing, Mr. McNamara readily acknowledges. "But governments must bear the main responsibility," he said. "Governments decide what the United Nations will be, and what resources governments commit to the conflict they won't commit to the peace." <br><br>Governments want to dump problems like Kosovo onto the United Nations to avoid responsibility, he said. The United Nations should develop "a serious checklist" of requirements and commitments from governments before it agrees to another Kosovo, Mr. McNamara said, "and the U.N. should be able to say no." </font><br></p> <a name="newsitem962608848,9496,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>The Los Angeles Times : Milosevic Should Not Escape Unpunished </center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000">By SUSAN BLAUSTEIN<br><br>WASHINGTON--While exasperated senior Western government officials busily float trial balloons about arranging a possible safe exit for Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and his family, the indicted leader continues to ratchet up his assault on the Serbian people. In recent weeks, the Belgrade regime has shuttered nearly all independent media outlets, arrested more than 1,000 student activists and begun pushing anti-terrorism and anti-assembly bills through the rubber-stamp Yugoslav parliament that will give Milosevic even more draconian powers to stamp out dissent. <br>In Montenegro, Serbia's sister republic where the democratically elected president, Milo Djukanovic, enjoys Western support, Milosevic has imposed a punishing economic blockade, fortified his military command with trusted loyalists, created a 1,000-strong battalion composed of ruthless military police and vastly increased the number of army checkpoints. Two weeks ago, Serbian opposition leader Vuk Draskovic was wounded in his Montenegrin vacation home by automatic gunfire during what appeared to be the second organized attack on his life inside eight months; two weeks before that, Djukanovic's key security advisor was shot dead in front of his home. <br>The recent spate of gangland-style killings has targeted cronies and rivals of Milosevic. Polls suggest Milosevic would lose in any fair election, and a number of his fellow indicted war criminals in Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia have been arrested or turned over to the U.N.'s International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague. Aides whisper that Milosevic is unusually anxious and irritable, and that his wife and full-fledged partner in crime, Mirjana "Mira" Markovic, views the spiraling violence as prefiguring a Belgrade reprise of the blood-drenched 1989 finale for Romania's first couple, Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu. As if to stave off such a demise, Belgrade's conjugal regime has exploited its virtual media monopoly to fabricate a surreal kingdom. <br>Early last month, Markovic's Yugoslav United Left party nominated Milosevic for "the order of national hero." The nomination was heartily seconded by the general staff of the Yugoslav army, which praised their "supreme commander's heroic exploits" and wartime display of "military leadership that has rarely been found in modern world history." The party has also condemned the unconventional opposition youth movement known as Resistance, or Otpor, which has captured the imagination of the demoralized Serbian public, as "a satanic terrorist organization" whose widely graffitied symbol, a clenched fist, "is a satanic sign which lacked only blood under the nails." <br>Such hyperbole, with its invocation of the supernatural, coupled with the current crackdown, reveals a despot in extremis, squeezed by discontent, sanctions and the arrests of fellow indictees. Yet, despite these signs that the allies' postwar policy may be succeeding, more and more foreign leaders, frustrated by Milosevic's staying power, appear willing to contemplate alternatives. <br>Recent press reports suggest that not only would Russian President Vladimir V. Putin and former Greek Prime Minister Constantine Mitsotakis prefer a kinder, gentler approach toward Milosevic, but that even the Clinton administration, which spearheaded the NATO air campaign and has consistently backed sanctions against Serbia, would find such a "solution" hard to refuse. European nations seem to be suffering from a combination of Balkans fatigue and the pragmatic desire to position themselves for lucrative contracts in a post-Milosevic Serbia. As for Washington, the administration's desire to brandish a foreign policy success before the November presidential election may override its professed interest in bringing alleged war criminals to trial. <br>Administration figures deny that any such deal is being contemplated, but have not stated categorically that the U.S. will block efforts by other countries to provide Milosevic with a graceful exit. Indeed, Milosevic's political survival a year after the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's ostensible victory in Kosovo has induced the international community to relax its postwar policy. Ambassadors representing the Vatican, the Russian Federation, Argentina, Mexico and Australia have visited Belgrade in recent weeks, as have China's parliamentary head and Greece's former foreign minister. The European Union lifted its flight ban on the state-run Yugoslav airline, but has dawdled on implementing its new, "smarter" sanctions, which would ban EU trade with any firm or individual unable to prove complete independence of the Milosevic regime. <br>If a safe-haven strategy for Milosevic is pursued, it will have devastating consequences in Serbia, throughout the former Yugoslavia and on other, non-Balkan states ruled by alleged war criminals. It would mark a clear victory for impunity, the death of U.N. credibility and of any hope for the future of international justice. <br>Despite the apparent lack of leverage over the Belgrade regime, there remain at least a half-dozen measures that the allies can take to let Milosevic and the Serbian people know that there will be no slackening of international resolve. <br><br>* NATO countries should make it clear that there will be no deal. The U.N. tribunal has refused to grant Milosevic immunity, but that is not enough. With his extensive network of loyalists, Milosevic would remain capable of destabilizing the region even from the "safe" remove of a Belarus or Iraq. Only The Hague, Western leaders must insist, can be his safe haven. <br>* Allied nations should inform Milosevic that NATO will respond with overwhelming force to any violent attempt to unseat Montenegro's reformist government. <br>* The U.S. and EU should compensate for Serbia's news blackout by swiftly reinstating the wartime "ring around Serbia," which enabled Radio Free Europe and Voice of America to broadcast across Serbia from neighboring countries. <br>* The EU should implement its new, more closely targeted sanctions and strengthen its monitoring and enforcement capabilities. Cutting off Milosevic's hard-currency stream will, if handled skillfully, pull the plug on the regime. <br>* Western democracies should support non-nationalist opposition parties and movements such as Resistance, which are open to forming coalitions and devising a common platform that could turn local elections later this year into a referendum on Milosevic, Serbia's economy and its pariah-nation status. <br>* The Clinton administration and other allied governments should continue to inveigh against the regime's capricious seizure of independent media outlets, brutal intimidation of opposition parties and non-government organizations, and maltreatment and arrest of dissidents. <br><br>The Serbian people appear to be nearing their tolerance threshold for Milosevic and his policies. Given the extent of the decay of Serbian society after a decade under Milosevic, a peaceful transition to stable, democratic governance in Serbia is unlikely to happen overnight. It is worth recalling that every democratic transition in Eastern Europe has taken years of patient persistence on the part of engaged Western democracies. Allied impatience should not become an excuse for not staying the course this time.</font><br></p> <a name="newsitem962526982,28020,"></a> <p><strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="Navy"><center>Washington Post : U.S. Plan On Russia Debt Stirs Hill Anger</center></font><br></strong><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000">By John Burgess<br>Saturday, July 1, 2000; Page E01 <br><br><br>Turning aside firm opposition from congressional leaders, the Clinton administration said yesterday that it will proceed with plans to let Russia postpone payment on $485 million in debt owed to the U.S. government. In retaliation, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said it will put all ambassadorial nominations on hold. <br><br>Secretary of State Madeleine Albright sent the news by letter Thursday night to the committee chairmen, who had argued that the rescheduling would help finance Russia's war in Chechnya and its aid to Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. In addition, the full Senate has passed a measure critical of debt rescheduling.<br><br>"Refusal to reschedule would not stop Russia from taking actions that it deems to be in its interests," Albright said in a letter to House International Relations Committee Chairman Benjamin A. Gilman (R-N.Y.). She sent a similar letter to Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jesse Helms (R-N.C.).<br><br>Russia had been due to pay $155 million to the United States yesterday for old debts left from the World War II Lend Lease program; it will now be allowed to put off that payment and others due this year and next year.<br><br>Senate committee spokesman Mark Thiessen called it "unprecedented and unacceptable" for the administration to defy the chairman in this way. He added, "That's not done without consequences."<br><br>Albright has publicly courted Helms, flying to his home state to consult with him and holding hands with him in a photograph. However, serious tensions have continued in the relationship and now are flaring again.<br><br>Russia is still suffering the effects of a financial panic that broke out in 1998. "It's either alternate repayment schedules or default," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said. "It's not money that they have." Rescheduling will help assure the debt will be paid back later, he said, rather than the money being lost forever.<br><br>But Helms and Gilman contend that it merely frees up money for dark purposes. "In no way should the United States underwrite the Kremlin's war against the peoples of Chechnya or its support of the Milosevic regime," Helms said in a June 14 letter to Albright, citing a $150 million Russian loan to the Yugoslav government.<br><br>He said that before he would back the rescheduling, Russia would at the least have to declare a cease-fire in Chechnya, begin peace negotiations with its elected leader and end assistance to Milosevic.<br><br>Gilman also is "very upset" by Albright's move, House committee spokesman Lester Munson said, and is "going to seek a legislative remedy for this problem." He also said Gilman would hold up elements of the Russia aid program.<br><br>Critics contend that by rescheduling the debt payments, the United States will merely encourage economic irresponsibility in Russia and will miss a chance to bring the government there to heel.<br><br>Boucher said the United States is pressing by other means for peace in Chechnya and an end to aid to Milosevic. He said Russia had turned down a recent request from Serbia for $32 million for diesel fuel.<br><br>He faulted the Senate committee's decision to hold up ambassadorial nominations, of which at least 13 are pending. "We send up qualified applicants" for confirmation, Boucher said. "We need to have these people in posts and we don't think their fate should be linked to unrelated issues."<br><br>The U.S. debt postponement is part of a larger rescheduling agreed to last year by the Paris Club, a forum in which creditor governments sit down with governments that are having trouble paying what they owe. It was the fifth rescheduling for the Russian Federation, which inherited the Soviet Union's foreign debt.<br><br>A U.S. refusal to reschedule its share of Russia's debt would create tensions within the Paris Club, U.S. officials have said. Moreover, under U.S. law, if Russia falls behind on Lend Lease payments without U.S. permission, Russian goods entering the United States would be hit by higher duties. U.S. officials are eager to avoid that disruption to the Russian economy, as well as possible retaliation by Russia.</font><br></p> |
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