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Pastimes : Kosovo -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: The Philosopher who wrote (9954)	5/26/1999 7:26:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Respond to of 17770

Milosevic indictment seen as blow to Kosovo talks 05:04 p.m May 26, 1999 Eastern By Colin McIntyre BELGRADE, May 26 (Reuters) - The reported decision to indict Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic for war crimes appears to have driven a dagger into the heart of diplomatic negotiations to end the Kosovo crisis, local analysts said on Wednesday. An indictment, which a source close to the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia said was expected to be announced on Thursday, could mean the veteran Yugoslav leader can no longer be an acceptable negotiating partner for the West. That would leave him no choice but to fight to the bitter end a battle he realistically can never win. Milosevic has been pressing for direct negotiations with the West on ending the Kosovo crisis in order to boost his political position at home, the local political analysts said. ''The bottom line is he wants to be treated as a respected negotiator,'' one leading Yugoslav analyst said. ''That way he feels he can get out of the crisis with his position more or less intact.'' A source close to Milosevic said the decision showed that the West did not want to deal with Milosevic over Kosovo. ''It's their answer to the charges against Clinton we brought up with the Hague, and they want Milosevic out of the negotiating process.'' The analysts said a pledge of immunity from prosecution for war crimes has been one of Milosevic's main concerns in his efforts to cut a deal that could end two months of NATO air strikes. However last week the United States ruled out any immunity deal for Serb leaders as part of an agreement to end the Kosovo crisis. With that option now formally closed, Milosevic appears to have few cards left in his hand. One local analyst said the decision by the court showed that the West was really after the ouster of Milosevic from power, seeing him as a threat to the future stability of the volatile Balkans, and not just the withdrawal of his forces from Kosovo. Last month both U.S. President Bill Clinton and NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana suggested that Milosevic should be indicted for war crimes, something the West avoided saying throughout the wars in Croatia and Bosnia which he helped spark. ''That is strictly speaking a legal decision that has to be made, but I certainly think it should be looked into,'' Clinton replied when asked about a possible indictment. ''If you ask me personally, I say yes,'' Solana said. On Tuesday the spokesman for U.N. chief war crimes prosecutor Louise Arbour said investigators had gathered evidence of massive war crimes by Serb forces in Kosovo from ethnic Albanians seeking refuge in neighbouring countries. ''Much of this information includes quite accurate eyewitness accounts of war crimes, crimes against humanity committed ...generally since the beginning of the last week of March right up until recent days,'' Paul Risley told reporters in Tirana. Reports that the Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia had indicted Milosevic and his arrest warrant was already signed came on the eve of a planned visit to Belgrade by Russian peace envoy Viktor Chernomyrdin. Chernomyrdin has been mediating between Yugoslavia and the West in a bid to close the wide gap between the two on NATO's five conditions for ending its air strikes, including the withdrawal of Yugoslav troops and the deployment of an international peace force in Kosovo. The main sticking points between Belgrade and the West are the makeup and command of an international peace force in Kosovo and the number of Yugoslav troops that could remain in Kosovo. ''This decision ensures that tomorrow's visit will be a failure,'' one Belgrade-based analyst said. U.S. negotiator Strobe Talbott, meeting Chernomyrdin in Moscow on Wednesday, shed some doubt on whether the Russian envoy would be coming to Belgrade at all. He said the two of them had good talks which would continue on Thursday morning, but declined to say whether the issue of Milosevic's indictment had been raised. The source close to Milosevic said he did not expect the indictment would jeopardise Chernomyrdin's trip to Belgrade, which he said could be on Thursday or Friday. The leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, Zoran Djindjic, criticised the timing of the decision. ''Any peace negotiations should have priority, '' he said by telephone from Montenegro. ''Peace, the end of bombing and the return of refugees must come first. Everthing else can come later.'' Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited.