Russsia top bosses flay US demand to had Milosevic over to Hague tribunal

Russsia top bosses flay US demand to had Milosevic over to Hague tribunal
DADAN UPADHYAY

MOSCOW, APRIL 2: Russia has strongly protested against US-led western pressure on Yugoslavia to turn over former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to the UN War Crimes Tribunal in the Hague.

Referring to the demand by the western countries for Milosevic's trial bythe tribunal, official spokesman of the Russian Foreign Ministry Alexander Yakovenko said that action by Yugoslav authorities against Milosevic was the country's internal matter. ``It's natural therefore that the law enforcement and judiciary agencies will be acting in conformity with the internal legislation of the country,'' Interfax news agency quoted Yakovenko as saying. ``Any external pressure on the Yugoslav leadership in connection with this matter would not only mean interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state but could also weaken the positions of the democratic forces of the country, which contradicts the interests of stabilisation in the Balkans,'' he noted.

Milosevic surrendered himself to the Yugoslav law enforcement agencies onSunday, following a tense stand-off at his villa in Belgrade between hispersonal security guards and Yugoslav authorities.

US President George W. Bush hailed the arrest, saying Milosevic's arrestshould be a ``first step towards trying him for the crimes against humanitywith which he is charged''.

Reacting to the pressure by western governments on Belgrade to hand overMilosevic to the Hague, Communist speaker of the lower house of Russian Parliament Gennady Seleznyov also said that Milosevic should not be turned over to the war crimes tribunal in the Hague. He claimed that the charges of genocide against Milosevic were not true. ``When genocide is being discussed, orders to kill people are implied. But neither Milosevic, nor any other person issued such orders,'' Seleznyov stressed and demanded instead that the tribunal try those who organised the bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999.

Chairman of the parliamentary committee on international affairs Dmitry Rogozin said it would be a ``political mistake'' if Yugoslaviasurrenders Milosevic to the Hague. ``Milosevic's surrender will play into the hands of the United States, which would like to see him in the Hague and thus realise the spring of 1999 and justify NATO's aggression against Yugoslavia,'' Rogozin stressed.