> http://www.truthinmedia.org/Bulletins2002/3-3.html
Serb Quislings Snubbed by Washington
Powell Postpones Decision on Yugoslav Aid, U.S. Money Stays Frozen
BELGRADE, Apr. 3 - What did the Belgrade quislings get for prostrating
themselves so low before their Washington masters that to be any lower,
they'd have to dig in? A kick in the teeth! Which is what they
deserved, of course.
But wait? No, Zoran Djindjic (Serbia's prime minister) et. al. did not
get their well-earned rebuke from the Serb people. No, Sir. It was
their Washington bosses who kicked them away like annoying lapdogs.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell indefinitely postponed a
decision to certify Yugoslavia's cooperation with a U.N. war crimes
tribunal, a move that will keep $40 million in much-needed assistance
to Belgrade frozen.
Powell "has decided to defer a decision on whether the Federal Republic
of Yugoslavia has met the criteria," deputy State Department spokesman
Philip Reeker said.
As you saw in Item 3 of this TiM Bulletin (Washington Responds to
"Balkan Spy" Embarrassment with Financial Blackmail, Mar. 20), besides
the $40 million, Washington's support for multilateral loans to Belgrade
from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank were also at
stake.
Although Yugoslavia has made significant progress with respect to the
certification criteria, the secretary has determined that it would be
premature to certify at this point, the State Department said in a
statement.
Powell's move came despite an announcement from the Yugoslav government
earlier Monday (Apr. 1) that it would "cooperate fully" with the UN
court and hand over indicted suspects wanted by the tribunal.
"The federal government decided unanimously during an extraordinary
meeting to cooperate fully with the tribunal and to demand all state
organs to also cooperate fully," Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic told
reporters. "This means allowing access to archives in a way that does
not harm national dignity and the arrest and transfer to The Hague of
those charged with war crimes."
Opening national military archives to foreign powers "does not harm
national dignity"? Hm? Wonder what kind of a "nation" Svilanovic is
talking about? To us, it seems more like a nation of slaves, not of
once proud Serbs (see Item 1 of this Bulletin, Yugoslavia: R.I.P. and
Good Riddance!, Mar. 20).
Powell had praised some steps Belgrade has taken in meeting the U.S.
requirements - such as releasing 145 Kosovo Albanian prisoners that had
been held in Serbian jails (see Item 4 of this TiM Bulletin - Prisoners
for Dollars, Mar. 26). Yet the Serb vassals have received neither the
dollars, nor the Serb prisoners from Kosovo, in return for their
subservience.
Powell also came down hard on Belgrade's reluctance to hand over war
crimes indictees to the Hague tribunal. Although four more war crimes
suspects have been transferred there since former Yugoslav president
Slobodan Milosevic was kidnapped and shipped to the Hague on June 28,
2001, there has been no attempt to arrest high-profile indictees
believed to be in Serbia..
These include senior allies of Milosevic such as Serbian President
Milan Milutinovic and Yugoslav army chief Dragoljub Ojdanic, and
former Bosnian Serb military leader Ratko Mladic, whom the Hague
court has insisted that he has been in hiding in Serbia.
Yugoslav president Vojislav Kostunica reacted Monday (Apr. 1) to the
Powell decision by urgently calling for the adoption of a Yugoslav law
that stipulates cooperation with the tribunal, the AFP said.
Kostunica's hurry to pass apparently an unconstitutional law is rather
curious given the oft-stated legalistic approach that this lawyer has
adopted in the past, according to the western media anyway.
"As far as I am aware, there is no similar example in the history
of constitutional law when a government made such a mockery of
constitutionality and law," writes Milan Tepavac, a Belgrade
constitutional lawyer, whose comments longtime TiM readers may
recall from our past reports (see Kostunica Likens Himself to Lenin!
Other Balkans Stories, Nov 7, 2000), and How Washington Bought
Yugoslav Presidency (Dec 12, 2000).
So add another former Serb nationalist (Kostunica) to the list of
Washington doormats in Belgrade.
Meanwhile, one reason Washington?s Belgrade stooges have not arrested
some Hague indictees is that they would get their teeth kicked in if
they
tried. Former top associates of Slobodan Milosevic vowed today (Apr. 3)
to resist arrest and extradition to the U.N. war crimes tribunal -
defying the Serb leadership and its attempts to avoid U.S. sanctions,
the Associated Press reported from Belgrade.
Serbia has said it would arrest and extradite (Ret.) Gen. Dragoljub
Ojdanic, who commanded the army under the former Yugoslav president
during 999 NATO bombing; Milan Milutinovic, the current Serb president;
Nikola Sainovic, Milosevic's top security adviser; and Vlajko
Stojiljkovic,
a former Serbian interior minister.
The most direct challenge to the arrest warrants, issued by the Serb
government earlier this week, came from Gen. Ojdanic. He said in a
statement relayed to the Associated Press by his family that he is "not
afraid of an arrest" and would resist any detention attempt.
"And would resist" - being the key phrase here.
Ojdanic has left the Yugoslav capital for an undisclosed location.
Sainovic and Stojiljkovic are also somewhere in Serbia, and do not
intend to surrender voluntarily, Dusan Bajatovic, spokesman for
Milosevic's Socialist party, told the AP (click here at our web site
to read the full story).
Milutinovic has immunity from prosecution in his post, which is largely
ceremonial.
Ojdanic said he would surrender only if the Yugoslav Parliament passes
a law on cooperation with war crimes tribunal in The Hague. Serb
leaders
have said that because of the U.S. step (to continue the aid freeze)
there is no time to pass an extradition law before the arrests are made.
The Serb prime minister Djindjic warned Wednesday of the "catastrophic
economic consequences" of the U.S. aid freeze. That a mere $40 million
can be "catastrophic" for an entire country's economy is, of course, a
ludicrous assertion. But it could be catastrophic for the Belgrade
quislings' personal bank accounts.
"The $40 million is a drop in the bucket," a Belgrade businessman told
TiM. "Besides, the Serb people at large would have never seen that
money. It would have all gone to Djindjic and his cronies."
If true, Washington has for once made the right move, albeit for the
wrong reasons. Djindjic et. al. have already shown that they are ready
to sell themselves and their country for pittance. So why waste money
bribing the beggars?
--------------
TRUTH IN MEDIA
Phoenix, Arizona
e-mail: publisher@...
Visit the Truth in Media Web site http://www.truthinmedia.org for
articles on geopolitical affairs.
Serb Quislings Snubbed by Washington
Powell Postpones Decision on Yugoslav Aid, U.S. Money Stays Frozen
BELGRADE, Apr. 3 - What did the Belgrade quislings get for prostrating
themselves so low before their Washington masters that to be any lower,
they'd have to dig in? A kick in the teeth! Which is what they
deserved, of course.
But wait? No, Zoran Djindjic (Serbia's prime minister) et. al. did not
get their well-earned rebuke from the Serb people. No, Sir. It was
their Washington bosses who kicked them away like annoying lapdogs.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell indefinitely postponed a
decision to certify Yugoslavia's cooperation with a U.N. war crimes
tribunal, a move that will keep $40 million in much-needed assistance
to Belgrade frozen.
Powell "has decided to defer a decision on whether the Federal Republic
of Yugoslavia has met the criteria," deputy State Department spokesman
Philip Reeker said.
As you saw in Item 3 of this TiM Bulletin (Washington Responds to
"Balkan Spy" Embarrassment with Financial Blackmail, Mar. 20), besides
the $40 million, Washington's support for multilateral loans to Belgrade
from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank were also at
stake.
Although Yugoslavia has made significant progress with respect to the
certification criteria, the secretary has determined that it would be
premature to certify at this point, the State Department said in a
statement.
Powell's move came despite an announcement from the Yugoslav government
earlier Monday (Apr. 1) that it would "cooperate fully" with the UN
court and hand over indicted suspects wanted by the tribunal.
"The federal government decided unanimously during an extraordinary
meeting to cooperate fully with the tribunal and to demand all state
organs to also cooperate fully," Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic told
reporters. "This means allowing access to archives in a way that does
not harm national dignity and the arrest and transfer to The Hague of
those charged with war crimes."
Opening national military archives to foreign powers "does not harm
national dignity"? Hm? Wonder what kind of a "nation" Svilanovic is
talking about? To us, it seems more like a nation of slaves, not of
once proud Serbs (see Item 1 of this Bulletin, Yugoslavia: R.I.P. and
Good Riddance!, Mar. 20).
Powell had praised some steps Belgrade has taken in meeting the U.S.
requirements - such as releasing 145 Kosovo Albanian prisoners that had
been held in Serbian jails (see Item 4 of this TiM Bulletin - Prisoners
for Dollars, Mar. 26). Yet the Serb vassals have received neither the
dollars, nor the Serb prisoners from Kosovo, in return for their
subservience.
Powell also came down hard on Belgrade's reluctance to hand over war
crimes indictees to the Hague tribunal. Although four more war crimes
suspects have been transferred there since former Yugoslav president
Slobodan Milosevic was kidnapped and shipped to the Hague on June 28,
2001, there has been no attempt to arrest high-profile indictees
believed to be in Serbia..
These include senior allies of Milosevic such as Serbian President
Milan Milutinovic and Yugoslav army chief Dragoljub Ojdanic, and
former Bosnian Serb military leader Ratko Mladic, whom the Hague
court has insisted that he has been in hiding in Serbia.
Yugoslav president Vojislav Kostunica reacted Monday (Apr. 1) to the
Powell decision by urgently calling for the adoption of a Yugoslav law
that stipulates cooperation with the tribunal, the AFP said.
Kostunica's hurry to pass apparently an unconstitutional law is rather
curious given the oft-stated legalistic approach that this lawyer has
adopted in the past, according to the western media anyway.
"As far as I am aware, there is no similar example in the history
of constitutional law when a government made such a mockery of
constitutionality and law," writes Milan Tepavac, a Belgrade
constitutional lawyer, whose comments longtime TiM readers may
recall from our past reports (see Kostunica Likens Himself to Lenin!
Other Balkans Stories, Nov 7, 2000), and How Washington Bought
Yugoslav Presidency (Dec 12, 2000).
So add another former Serb nationalist (Kostunica) to the list of
Washington doormats in Belgrade.
Meanwhile, one reason Washington?s Belgrade stooges have not arrested
some Hague indictees is that they would get their teeth kicked in if
they
tried. Former top associates of Slobodan Milosevic vowed today (Apr. 3)
to resist arrest and extradition to the U.N. war crimes tribunal -
defying the Serb leadership and its attempts to avoid U.S. sanctions,
the Associated Press reported from Belgrade.
Serbia has said it would arrest and extradite (Ret.) Gen. Dragoljub
Ojdanic, who commanded the army under the former Yugoslav president
during 999 NATO bombing; Milan Milutinovic, the current Serb president;
Nikola Sainovic, Milosevic's top security adviser; and Vlajko
Stojiljkovic,
a former Serbian interior minister.
The most direct challenge to the arrest warrants, issued by the Serb
government earlier this week, came from Gen. Ojdanic. He said in a
statement relayed to the Associated Press by his family that he is "not
afraid of an arrest" and would resist any detention attempt.
"And would resist" - being the key phrase here.
Ojdanic has left the Yugoslav capital for an undisclosed location.
Sainovic and Stojiljkovic are also somewhere in Serbia, and do not
intend to surrender voluntarily, Dusan Bajatovic, spokesman for
Milosevic's Socialist party, told the AP (click here at our web site
to read the full story).
Milutinovic has immunity from prosecution in his post, which is largely
ceremonial.
Ojdanic said he would surrender only if the Yugoslav Parliament passes
a law on cooperation with war crimes tribunal in The Hague. Serb
leaders
have said that because of the U.S. step (to continue the aid freeze)
there is no time to pass an extradition law before the arrests are made.
The Serb prime minister Djindjic warned Wednesday of the "catastrophic
economic consequences" of the U.S. aid freeze. That a mere $40 million
can be "catastrophic" for an entire country's economy is, of course, a
ludicrous assertion. But it could be catastrophic for the Belgrade
quislings' personal bank accounts.
"The $40 million is a drop in the bucket," a Belgrade businessman told
TiM. "Besides, the Serb people at large would have never seen that
money. It would have all gone to Djindjic and his cronies."
If true, Washington has for once made the right move, albeit for the
wrong reasons. Djindjic et. al. have already shown that they are ready
to sell themselves and their country for pittance. So why waste money
bribing the beggars?
--------------
TRUTH IN MEDIA
Phoenix, Arizona
e-mail: publisher@...
Visit the Truth in Media Web site http://www.truthinmedia.org for
articles on geopolitical affairs.