Culled from Reuters

Milosevic in Hague on War Crimes Charges


By Alastair Macdonald

THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Slobodan Milosevic (news - web sites) was in jail in
The Hague (news - web sites) on Friday facing charges of crimes against
humanity in a decade of ethnic wars in the Balkans that left hundreds of
thousands dead.

The former Yugoslav president, 59, was whisked to the Scheveningen
detention center by helicopter an hour after midnight local time after a
flight to the Netherlands from Belgrade via Bosnia, in a British military
aircraft.

``He's in the detention unit,'' Tribunal spokesman Jim Landale told
reporters, ending a climate of suspense that surrounded the anticipated
arrival.

At one nearby military airbase, reporters saw a large plane land without
lights on a darkened runway. But it could not be identified, and rumors
flew until the helicopter touched down inside the compound to applause from
waiting bystanders.

Milosevic will be the first head of state to be tried for alleged war
crimes carried out while in office.

Serbia's reformist authorities handed him over despite legal attempts by
his allies to block the move. He was taken from his cell in Belgrade's
Central Prison and flown by helicopter to the big U.S.-run airbase outside
Tuzla, northern Bosnia.

Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Zarko Korac told Reuters the ex-president had
been placed in the custody of a representative of the Hague Tribunal in
Belgrade before leaving.

His transfer clears the way for Yugoslavia to receive around $1.3 billion
in funds to restore an economy shattered by NATO (news - web sites) bombing
and sanctions imposed to punish Milosevic's policies.

NOT ALL APPLAUD

But the political costs may be high.

Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica (news - web sites), who describes
himself as a moderate nationalist, in hard-hitting comments late on
Thursday slammed the handover of his predecessor as illegal, raising the
prospect of political turmoil over the handover.

Montenegro's Socialist People's Party (SNP), a former ally of Milosevic's
now in government with the Serb reformers who toppled him, has consistently
opposed moves to hand him over and its leader said the transfer spelled the
end of the coalition.

``We will remain firm in our stand. This is the end of the coalition,'' SNP
chief Predrag Bulatovic told Reuters in Montenegro's main city Podgorica.

``I don't see how they will be able to avoid a government crisis,''
commented one Western diplomat in Belgrade.

The domestic criticism was in sharp contrast to reactions in the West,
where President Bush (news - web sites) and other leaders applauded the
move .


``The transfer of Milosevic to The Hague is an unequivocal message to those
persons who brought such tragedy and brutality to the Balkans that they
will be held accountable for their crimes,'' Bush said in a statement in
Washington.

The Tribunal's chief prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte, said the transfer was
only the beginning of a lengthy legal process.

``This day will be remembered as an important milestone for international
criminal justice,'' she said in a statement.

``The transfer itself does not represent the end of the process. On the
contrary, this is only the beginning of criminal proceedings and a great
deal of work now has to be done to bring the case to a just conclusion,''
she said.

BIG FISH AT LARGE, CHARGES TO COME

The handover struck one big name from the top of the tribunal's wanted
list, but plenty of others remain at large.

Indisputably top of the list are Bosnian Serb wartime leaders Radovan
Karadzic and General Ratko Mladic, both accused of genocide -- the
tribunal's most serious charge.

The Hague tribunal indicted Milosevic in May 1999, accusing him of
responsibility for the mass killings and expulsions of ethnic Albanians in
Kosovo province.

Del Ponte also plans to charge him with war crimes committed in Bosnia and
Croatia, where the breakaway of the two former Yugoslav republics from
Belgrade's control sparked four years of war that killed more than 200,000
people.

Croatia and Bosnia say Milosevic armed and supported nationalist Serbs who
resisted incorporation into the new states. They say he was partly
responsible for vicious campaigns to drive out Croats and Muslims from Serb-
dominated areas.

One official involved in The Hague tribunal was jubilant. ''We're over the
moon. This is the crowning moment for us.''

Around 2,000 angry Milosevic supporters rallied in central Belgrade to
protest against the handover. Some tried to beat up cameramen from Western
media. They denounced Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic and other reformists
behind the handover.

Earlier on Thursday Yugoslavia's Constitutional Court, stacked with
Milosevic loyalists, ordered a freeze on all moves to transfer him.

But their decision did not officially take effect until Friday and the
Serbian government, in emergency session, decided to act swiftly on
extradition in case procedures bogged down.

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