[ALBSA-Info] Yugoslavia OKs Milosevic Draft Law

[Gazhebo at aol.com]

Yugoslavia OKs Milosevic Draft Law

By ALEKSANDAR VASOVIC

  
BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (AP) - Yugoslavia's government adopted a draft law 
Thursday that would enable the extradition of former Yugoslav President 
Slobodan Milosevic to the U.N. war crimes court. 

The measure will now be forwarded to the federal parliament, which could 
consider it as early as next week. Parliament would have to approve the draft 
legislation in order for Milosevic to be extradited. 

Yugoslavian President Vojislav Kostunica, who had initially opposed 
extradition, announced the move on television after the Cabinet meeting. 

Differences over the law have unleashed the most serious government crisis 
since Milosevic was ousted from power last October. Montenegrin lawmakers 
have adamantly opposed the extradition of Yugoslavs to the U.N. court based 
in The Hague, Netherlands because they consider it to be biased against 
Serbs. 

Deputies from Montenegro, Yugoslavia's smaller republic, will have to support 
it to win passage in the 178-member federal parliament. Serbia's 
pro-democracy officials lack the necessary majority on their own. 

Meanwhile, the prime minister of Yugoslavia's larger republic, Serbia, said 
the country must cooperate with the tribunal or face the loss of a massive 
influx of foreign investment from the United States and Western financial 
institutions. 

``The sky will fall on our heads if we fail to write off at least 65 percent 
of our foreign debt - estimated at dozens of billions of dollars - by the end 
of June,'' Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic told state television. ``Any other 
solution is a suicide.'' 

Milosevic, who is now in prison pending an investigation into allegations of 
corruption and abuse of power during his 13-year rule, hired 10 more lawyers 
to prove that he was jailed without sufficient evidence and to work on his 
release before trial, defense lawyer Zdenko Tomanovic told the Beta news 
agency. 

Defense attorney Toma Fila, who has represented Milosevic until now, will 
remain with the defense team.