[ALBSA-Info] U.S. Likely in Yugoslavia Aid Talks

[Gazhebo at aol.com]

U.S. Likely in Yugoslavia Aid Talks


WASHINGTON (AP) - American participation in an international conference on 
financial aid to Yugoslavia appeared to be assured Tuesday night after the 
Serbian government moved decisively to extradite former President Slobodan 
Milosevic to the U.N. war crimes tribunal in the Hague. 

The administration has linked Yugoslav cooperation with the tribunal to U.S. 
participation in the donors' conference, which is set for Friday in Brussels. 

``We very much welcome the moves that the Yugoslav government, the Serbian 
government have been taking,'' State Department spokesman Richard Boucher 
said. 

``We welcome the Yugoslav decree on cooperation with the tribunal. We welcome 
the initiation of legal proceedings against Milosevic pursuant to this 
decree. We're encouraged by these positive developments as we consider 
participating in Friday's donors' conference.'' 

A recommendation on participation has not yet been sent to Secretary of State 
Colin Powell, Boucher said, adding that the positive steps taken thus far will
 ``weigh heavily'' on the U.S. decision on attendance. 

Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica said there was no possibility that 
Milosevic could be transferred to Hague tribunal custody before Friday's 
donors' conference. 

Privately, a U.S. official raised the possibility of U.S. participation even 
if Milosevic is not extradited. 

Any pledges of financial support for Yugoslavia could be contingent on 
Milosevic's extradition, the official said. 

The tribunal indicted Milosevic for crimes committed against the Kosovo 
Albanian population in Kosovo in 1999. 

Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations 
Committee, said American participation in a donors' conference should not be 
unconditional. 

``If the administration decides to participate in the donors conference, it 
should condition release of any U.S. assistance on the extradition of 
Milosevic and the other 15 suspects indicted by the tribunal who are thought 
to be in Yugoslavia,'' Biden said. 

Richard Dicker, a top official with the New York-based Human Rights Watch, 
said that if the administration participates in the Brussels conference, it 
``should link disbursement of aid to specific forms of cooperation, such as 
the arrest and surrender of indictees.'' 

He cautioned that there is still ``little concrete evidence of cooperation.''