[ALBSA-Info] Putin mediation offer on Yugoslavia spurned

[Gazhebo at aol.com]

Putin mediation offer on Yugoslavia spurned

By Philippa Fletcher

BELGRADE, Oct 3 (Reuters) - Russia's offer to mediate in Yugoslavia's 
stand-off has drawn an implicit rebuff from both sides, and the Belgrade 
opposition vowed to step up a general strike on Tuesday to force President 
Slobodan Milosevic to quit. 

Milosevic voiced defiance in a rare address to the nation on Monday, making 
clear he would not concede defeat and wanted a second round of voting after 
last month's presidential poll. 

He also pointedly failed to mention Moscow's offer to host mediation talks. 

The opposition's Vojislav Kostunica, who claimed outright victory in the 
September 24 presidential poll, likewise would not be drawn on whether he 
would take up Russian President Vladimir Putin's invitation and accused 
Moscow of sitting on the fence. 

``The Russian policy has so far been indecisive and reluctant, I would say 
unnecessarily so. It could be described as taking one step forward and one 
step back,'' Kostunica said. 

Putin's statement implied the need for a runoff vote, which Belgrade's Federa
l Election Commission has set for this Sunday. But Kostunica insists, along 
with Western countries, that there is no need for it as he won well over 50 
percent of the vote. 

In a sign of divisions among Milosevic's normally fiercely loyal supporters, 
Serbia's government-controlled trade union threatened on Monday to call a 
general strike if the election results were not re-examined within two days, 
the independent Beta news agency said. 

At the launch of the opposition's nationwide civil disobedience campaign on 
Monday, protesters blocked roads, miners staged strikes and children skipped 
school across Serbia, the main republic in Yugoslavia, which also comprises 
Montenegro. 

Signs of dissent have also reached Yugoslavia's tightly controlled state 
media. More than 60 journalists at Tanjug news agency urged their management 
to ``respect the principles of full, objective and truthful informing,'' Beta 
said. 

MILOSEVIC SLAMS OPPONENTS 

Milosevic lashed out at opponents in his televised address in a way his foes 
said smacked of desperation. He accused them of trying to grab power through 
blackmail, intimidation and violence, and implied they would yield Yugoslavia 
to foreign control. 

``I believe I have a duty to caution the citizens of our country of the 
consequences of activities financed and supported by the governments of the 
NATO countries,'' he said. 

``By yielding their country to others, to a foreign will, they are also 
yielding their own lives and the lives of their children and many other 
people to a foreign will.'' 

Opposition protests were due to be stepped up on Tuesday and in the most 
serious stoppages, coal miners serving Serbia's two largest thermal power 
plants continued strikes started at the weekend. 

The state electricity firm warned of immediate power cuts, prompting an angry 
response from miners who said there was no shortage of coal and the outages 
were aimed at turning public opinion against the strike. 

Kostunica received a warm welcome when he visited striking coal miners, who 
shouted ``Long live the president'' after he spoke. 

He later addressed a rally of 40,000 in the town of Cacak, one of several 
towns blocked by his supporters during the day. Demonstrators showed their 
contempt for Milosevic by chanting ``He's finished.'' 

Kostunica responded: ``He's finished but only he doesn't know or doesn't want 
to know but he will know in a few days.'' 

He said both the army and police were with the people. ``There is no one left 
with him any more.'' 

SANCTIONS PLEDGE 

As well as criticising Moscow, Kostunica earlier said the United States had 
helped to turn the presidential election into a matter of survival for 
Milosevic by insisting he stand trial for war crimes before a U.N. tribunal. 

``The policy of the current U.S. authorities, whether they praise Milosevic 
as they have in the past or threaten him with the Hague tribunal as they are 
doing now, actually supports him, but I think this support will be 
short-lived,'' he declared. 

At a meeting in Paris, the United States and the European Union said on 
Monday they would lift sanctions against Yugoslavia quickly and give it a big 
financial boost once Milosevic was out of power. 

There was no mention of numbers or specific actions but their comments were 
seen as clear support for Kostunica. 

``The U.S. and the EU have already indicated a willingness to lift sanctions 
once a democratic government takes office in Belgrade,'' U.S. Secretary of 
State Madeleine Albright said after meeting French Foreign Minister Hubert 
Vedrine and Europe's top men in foreign and security policy, Chris Patten and 
Javier Solana. 

In further international action against Belgrade, Switzerland has frozen 
about 100 bank accounts belonging to allies of Milosevic. None of them was in 
the name of the Yugoslav president himself.