[ALBSA-Info] U.S. Set to Finesse Tribunal Issue and Allow Belgrade Aid

[Gazhebo at aol.com]

U.S. Set to Finesse Tribunal Issue and Allow Belgrade Aid

By JANE PERLEZ
NJT

WASHINGTON, March 28 — The Bush administration is prepared to certify that 
Yugoslavia is cooperating with the war crimes tribunal at The Hague, thus 
meeting the requirements of an American law and allowing American economic 
assistance to resume, administration officials said today.

The certification, which Congress requires by March 31 in order for the money 
to flow, is likely to be accompanied by a cautionary State Department note 
that Yugoslavia has not made a completely good-faith effort.

But over all, administration officials said, the precarious economy in Serbia 
as well as the unsettled situation in Kosovo warrant an American show of 
confidence in the new Yugoslav government of President Vojislav Kostunica.

"To require a perfect performance is unrealistic," said one official involved 
in the intense debate among Balkans experts in the State Department in the 
last several weeks. "This is not the time to kick them in the teeth."

Congress appropriated $100 million for Yugoslavia last year and half of that 
was given without conditions. Without certification, however, Yugoslavia 
would be denied the remaining $50 million that has not yet been disbursed, 
Congressional officials said.

The law that required the administration to certify Yugoslav compliance does 
not specifically call for the arrest and extradition of the deposed leader, 
Slobodan Milosevic, who was indicted on charges of crimes against humanity 
two years ago. 

But it asks that Yugoslavia provide tribunal investigators with access and 
documents, and cooperate with the "surrender and transfer of indictees or 
assistance in their apprehension." 

In this regard, one author of the law, Senator Patrick Leahy, Democrat of 
Vermont, said today that Yugoslav efforts had not been good enough. He 
described the administration's plans for certification as "premature." 

"There have been gestures but no convincing steps toward these goals," Mr. 
Leahy said. "President Kostunica continues to dispute the legitimacy of the 
tribunal, and he has insisted that Milosevic, who lives comfortably in 
Serbia, will not be brought to justice by the tribunal."

The Yugoslav government has given conflicting signals about its intentions 
toward Mr. Milosevic. 

The new ambassador to the United States, Milan Protic, said at a 
Congressional hearing two weeks ago that his government would arrest the 
deposed president before March 31.

But several days later Mr. Kostunica contradicted him, in line with his 
campaign pledge of last September promising not to extradite Mr. Milosevic. 
The new Yugoslav leader, a constitutional lawyer, has regularly criticized 
the tribunal as a tool of the West that has no legal basis in Yugoslavia's 
Constitution, which the government in Belgrade says bans the extradition of 
citizens.

Earlier this month, the American ambassador to Yugoslavia, William D. 
Montgomery, delivered a list of "actions" that Belgrade should make in order 
to expect a favorable decision by March 31.

The list did not specify that Mr. Milosevic should be extradited to The Hague 
but suggested that Washington would like him arrested and in prison by the 
cutoff date. Instead of going to The Hague, Mr. Kostunica has said, Mr. 
Milosevic will stand trial in Belgrade — perhaps for corruption or other 
economic crimes, but not necessarily for war crimes.

Last week, apparently in an effort to comply more fully with the 
certification law, the Kostunica government handed over to the tribunal a 
Bosnian Serb, Milomir Stakic, the former mayor of Prijedor. Mr. Stakic was 
wanted under a sealed indictment issued in March 1997 for atrocities 
allegedly committed in 1992 and 1993 at the Omarska, Keraterm and Trnopolje 
camps in Bosnia.

Without the extradition of Mr. Stakic, it would have been very hard for the 
Bush administration to assert that Mr. Kostunica was making the required 
progress.

The tribunal's chief prosecutor, Carla del Ponte, and the Yugoslav government 
have been constantly at odds since Mr. Kostunica took office, although a 
visit by Yugoslav officials to The Hague earlier month was supposed to have 
eased the tensions.

Last week, justice officials in Belgrade urged war crimes suspects living in 
the country to surrender to the tribunal. Among those still at large are the 
Bosnian Serb wartime political leader Radovan Karadzic, and the military 
commander Ratko Mladic. About 15 war crimes suspects are believed to be 
living in Yugoslavia. 

The certification law demands that the government live up to the Dayton 
accords, which in ending the Bosnia war called for Serbia to stop financial 
and political support of the police and other institutions in the Serbian 
part of Bosnia. So far, Congressional aides said, Belgrade has failed to 
fulfill this requirement.

The law also requires the Yugoslav government to carry out policies that 
"reflect a respect for minority rights." Congress has requested the release 
of about 400 ethnic Albanian political prisoners in Serbia, the larger of the 
two republics in Yugoslavia.