[ALBSA-Info] Clinton Pledges To lift Sanctions

[Gazhebo at aol.com]

Clinton Pledges To lift Sanctions

By BARRY SCHWEID

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Clinton administration intends to move quickly in 
concert with European allies to remove the economic handcuffs placed on 
Yugoslavia to punish ousted President Slobodan Milosevic. 

But it also will be on the alert to efforts by Milosevic's close aides to 
secretly strip the government's treasury, three U.S. officials said. 

In the last few days, millions of dollars were intercepted by supporters of 
President-elect Vojislav Kostunica before they could be secreted out of 
Yugoslavia, said one of the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity. 

``Now is not the time for the United States or our allies to retreat from the 
Balkans in complacency,'' President Clinton said Friday. ``Now is the time to 
stay the course and stick with people who have won their freedom, the time to 
build the economic and civil institutions that will allow democracy to 
endure, reconciliation and cooperation to develop, and the economy to grow.'' 

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said the administration was consulting 
with the Europeans on how to proceed. 

But if Milosevic somehow managed to carve out a role for himself in the new 
government, she said, lifting sanctions might be reconsidered. 

``We have made clear that it has to be a fully democratic government, and 
that Milosevic should not have a role in it,'' Albright said. ``And as we 
talk about lifting the sanctions, I think that that is obviously one of the 
things we have mind, but so does everybody else.'' 

Conceding defeat Friday, Milosevic said that after resting and spending time 
with his family he plans to ``help my party gain force and contribute to 
future prosperity.'' 

Clinton, meanwhile, talked with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on the 
telephone Friday and ``agreed that Mr. Milosevic should have no political 
role in the future of Yugoslavia,'' P.J. Crowley, a White House spokesman, 
said. 

The aim in restoring economic ties to Belgrade would be to bolster and reward 
Kostunica, who won the Sept. 24 election with psychological and rhetorical 
U.S. support. 

Regardless of the fate of other sanctions, a ban on transferring assets out 
of Yugoslavia probably will remain in place for some time. The reason, a 
senior State Department official said, is to try to prevent supporters of 
Milosevic from leaving the country with ``bags of money.'' 

U.S. and European sanctions on Serbia, the larger of Yugoslavia's two 
republics, include an oil embargo; a ban on commerce with Yugoslav firms 
believed controlled by the Milosevic government; U.S. visas for high-level 
officials; and full rights in the United Nations and at the World Bank, the 
International Monetary Fund and other lending institutions. 

Foreign ministers of the 15 European Union countries are to meet in 
Luxembourg on Monday to lift the oil embargo imposed on Serbia during the 
Kosovo war in early 1999 and ease most of the union's remaining sanctions. 

EU officials said European oil companies could be authorized to resume 
deliveries to Serbia within days of the ministers' decision. 

``We want to do what we promised to do ... to ensure the people of Serbia can 
rejoin Europe as rapidly as possible,'' EU External Affairs Commissioner 
Chris Patten said Friday in Brussels, Belgium. 

An arms embargo imposed by the United Nations can be ended only by a U.N. 
Security Council resolution. 

Clinton, in conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, encouraged 
Moscow to recognize the ``clear results'' of the election, national security 
adviser Sandy Berger said. 

That's what Ivanov did Friday on a visit to Belgrade. He said, however, that 
Milosevic ``intends to play a prominent role in the political life of the 
country.'' 

Responded Berger: ``That is something we could not support.'' 

``He is still an indicted war criminal and has to be accountable, we believe, 
for his actions,'' Berger said in an interview. 

White House spokesman Jake Siewert said the United States would not support 
any effort to provide asylum for Milosevic. ``We are not proposing a deal, we 
are not encouraging a deal,'' Siewert said. 

At the State Department, Albright said the administration looks forward to 
``establishing a perfectly normal relationship with a new Kostunica 
government.'' 

At the same time, she acknowledged that he has had differences with the 
United States. 

``I know what President Kostunica has said and I know him to be a Serb 
nationalist,'' she said. ``I also know that he is not a former communist and 
I also know that he does not believe that dealing with Serbia's policy 
includes ethnic cleansing and devastation of the rights of those that are not 
ethnic Serbs.'' 

Sen. Rod Grams, R-Minn., a member of Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said 
he supports transition assistance for Yugoslavia. 

Clinton administration officials have acknowledged spending millions of 
dollars over the past year to support the Serbian opposition, independent 
radio stations, human rights groups and others working for democracy in 
Yugoslavia. They have denied, however, that money went to the presidential 
campaign of opposition leaders. 

Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., also a Foreign Relations Committee member, has 
introduced a Senate resolution to lift sanctions immediately if Kostunica 
becomes president, then incrementally ``help bring the Serbian people and the 
Serbian government back into the family of nations.''