Advocates for Kosova Independence (AKI)
www.alb-net.com/aki/

Milosevic attained international stature in the 1980s during his country's ethnic conflicts. The strife resulted from a breakdown of the nation-building of Marshal Josip Broz Tito, the wartime guerrilla leader who ruled Yugoslavia from 1945 until his death in 1980. Tito was dedicated to a global communist ideal that transcended nationalism. Individual ethnic nationalism was suppressed. Tito also shrewdly recognized the threat to Yugoslavian unity posed by a strong Serbia, the largest of the country's republics. When piecing together post-World War II Yugoslavia, Tito deliberately divided Serbia into two non-contiguous provinces -- Vojvodina in the north and Kosovo in the south -- to reduce the republic's power. The resulting gerrymandering left one-third of the Serbian population outside their own province and an Albanian majority firmly in place.

Eventually, the Communist governments of Eastern Europe collapsed and the fall of the U.S.S.R. weakened the glue that had held together the diverse, mutually antagonistic ethnic groups of the former Soviet bloc. The Serbian desire for a reunified homeland manifested itself in a resurgent nationalistic movement. Slobodan Milosevic rode that nationalism to power.

Milosevic was a minor political figure in 1987 when an incident occurred that thrust him into prominence. On April 24, Milosevic was summoned to help calm a riotous crowd of Serbs outside the town hall in Kosovo Polje. The Serbs were claiming mistreatment by the Albanian majority and were barred from entering the town hall by baton-wielding police. Milosevic silenced the Serbian crowd, telling them "no one will ever beat you again," and invited them into the hall to voice their grievances to the Communist party delegates. Afterward, Milosevic shaped the issues of alleged Albanian mistreatment of Serbs and a widespread sense of economic deprivation into concrete political goals. In 1989, he inspired violent Serbian demonstrations that drove the constitutionally elected leaders of both Vojvodina and Kosovo out of office. Milosevic had begun building a Greater Serbia.

Meanwhile, Yugoslavia's government struggled unsuccessfully to cope with a plunging economy and the re-emergence of local nationalism. The 165-member Central Committee of the Yugoslav Communist party held an emergency session in October 1988 but could not find a solution to the problem. Two months later, the entire Yugoslavian cabinet resigned. In January 1989, the Communist party voted to give up its power monopoly.

Yugoslavia's split began in May 1991, when Croatia and Slovenia declared their independence from the Serbian-dominated central government in Belgrade. To keep Bosnia-Herzegovina from seceding, Serbia offered to redraw territorial boundaries. But the Muslim president of Bosnia, Alija Izetbegovic, rejected the Serbian offer because he felt it did not offer real power to the Muslims. He held a referendum on independence for Bosnia-Herzegovina. Bosnian Serbs boycotted the referendum, but 90 percent of those who did vote opted for Bosnian independence. On March 3, 1992, Izetbegovic proclaimed Bosnia-Herzegovina an independent republic.

Bosnian Serbs rebelled, and an armed struggle broke out to determine which ethnic group would control the country. The Serbs justified their aggression by claiming that Izetbegovic wanted to turn Bosnia into a fundamentalist Islamic nation. (He is considered a moderate by Western diplomats.) Bosnia-Herzegovina was composed of 40 percent Muslims, 30 percent Serbs and 18 percent Croats. Although Bosnia's Muslims were in the majority with 2 million people, Bosnia's Serbian minority was better armed, receiving support from the neighboring Serbian army. Serbian militias, backed by the Serbian military, took control of two-thirds of Bosnia. Afterward, the Bosnian Serbs launched a reign of terror against country's Muslim population.

Enforcing a policy of "ethnic cleansing," Bosnian Serbs set out to "purify" Bosnia by expelling Bosnian Muslims from the country. Bosnian Serb forces drove Muslims from their homes, subjecting them to mass rape, confinement in concentration camps and genocide. Although some atrocities also occurred in Croatian-held and Muslim-held areas, international alarm was aroused mainly by pictures of starving concentration camp inmates and civilian casualties in Sarajevo as its Muslim population was besieged by the Serbian army in March 1992. Serbian artillery daily bombarded city streets and marketplaces. Finally, a NATO ultimatum brought about a cease-fire and the withdrawal of Serbian artillery in 1994.

After a prolonged period of indecision, the world community took action to restore Bosnia's integrity. Peace negotiations held at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, in late 1995 included presidents Milosevic of Serbia, Izetbegovic of Bosnia and Franjo Tudjman of Croatia. The three agreed on a government structure for Bosnia -- a six-member council consisting of two Muslims, two Serbs and two Croats, headed by two co-chairmen to function as prime ministers. Government ministries would also be divided among Serbs, Croats and Muslims.

In March 1996, the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina was given back control of the suburbs surrounding Sarajevo. Under the peace treaty, the capital area was to be in the hands of the Muslim-dominated government.

The United Nations International War Crimes Tribunal met the same month in The Hague, questioning Serbian soldiers about war crimes and issuing arrest warrants for Bosnian Serb officers. Serbians have refused to hand over officers charged with war crimes, instead regarding them as heroes.

The first national post-war elections were held in Bosnia in September 1996 under the supervision of NATO troops. Bosnia's multi-ethnic parliament met for the first time in January 1997 and appointed a cabinet.

Milosevic's overwhelming popularity among his people has been attributed to his devotion to Serbian unification. Revered as a savior by some, he is called the "Butcher of the Balkans" by others.

- by CNN.COM