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Monday January 15 4:19 PM ET
Kostunica Will Not Meet UN Prosecutor
BELGRADE (Reuters) - Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica (news - web sites) will not meet the U.N. war crimes tribunal's chief prosecutor on her visit to Belgrade on January 23, a senior official of his party said on Monday.
A refusal by Kostunica to meet Carla del Ponte would be seen abroad as a resounding snub underlining his unwillingness to even discuss handing over his autocratic nationalist predecessor, Slobodan Milosevic (news - web sites), for trial before the tribunal.
Del Ponte says Yugoslavia is obligated to extradite Milosevic to face trial for alleged atrocities against ethnic Albanians in the 1998-99 Kosovo conflict.
But the deputy president of Kostunica's Democratic Party of Serbia described the tribunal as a political court and said del Ponte did not have the stature to expect a meeting with the president as a matter of course, according to local media.
``Mr Kostunica can receive presidents of state, prime ministers and Madame del Ponte is neither one nor the other. She is not even a foreign minister of a country or an ambassador who brings accreditations,'' Aleksandar Popovic told B92 radio.
Del Ponte expects Kostunica to meet her, but Popovic said: ''Mr Kostunica's day has 24 hours and Madame del Ponte is not high enough in some hierarchy for Mr. Kostunica to receive her.''
Asked for comment, Kostunica's office said it had no information now about whether he would meet del Ponte.
But the chief U.N. war crimes prosecutor, visiting Zagreb for talks with Croatian leaders, sounded confident Kostunica would find some time to see her.
``I hope that President Kostunica when I am in Belgrade will find some time to meet me. He is meeting a lot of people, I don't think that he won't find time to meet the prosecutor of the ICTY (International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia),'' Del Ponte told reporters.
Some analysts say Belgrade's progress toward reintegration in Europe and international institutions since the fall in October of Milosevic could be damaged if Kostunica spurns del Ponte.
But Belgrade's new leadership, fearing a possible nationalist backlash dangerous to fragile reforms, would prefer to try Milosevic at home and have mentioned potential charges of corruption and vote-rigging, rather than war crimes.
After being barred from Yugoslavia under Milosevic's regime, del Ponte planned a trip to Belgrade as part of her efforts to normalize relations with the Yugoslav authorities and persuade them to hand over Milosevic.
The Swiss jurist has insisted Milosevic and other U.N.-indicted suspects at large in Yugoslavia be arrested and transferred to tribunal in The Hague.
Kostunica has appeared to rule out such a move, suggesting Milosevic could be tried in Belgrade.
Popovic made his comments two days after a surprise meeting between Kostunica and Milosevic, toppled in an October popular uprising and indicted in 1999 over war crimes in Kosovo.
Reacting to that meeting, tribunal prosecutors reminded Kostunica on Sunday that he must not shirk his legal obligations to transfer indicted suspects to The Hague.
Del Ponte believes at least 15 of 27 publicly indicted individuals still at large are in the main Yugoslav republic Serbia, including Milosevic.
Why should he deal with a "war crimes judge" who has refused to investigate NATO for its blatant war crimes, especially considering that his country was on the receiving end of those crimes?
HI!!
After the 79 day bombing...killing 79 innocent children...why on earth would a Serb even want to SEE, much less converse with, anybody who disregards the deaths of those innocent babies at the hands of nato monsters!!
This makes me feel very good about President Kostunica's allegiance to the rule of law. Of course Del ponte has no official governmental standing and is just the agent of a "court" which has no real foundation in law. If he dos meet del Ponte, one hopes that it will be to walk up to her and spit in her face (and the same goes for Madeline Albright, Holbrooke, and other loathsome creatures). I have full confidence that there will always be a Serbia long after the memory of the ICTY has faded into oblivion.
With the possible exception of his China Treason, Clinton's attack on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is the most vile and shameful of all his deeds, and that's saying a lot, considering his many rapes and murders.
"Under what law is Kostunica obliged to cooperate with this court? "
It must be some Allbright'slow in the Allbright's crime court
The 'Game' is afoot.
Kz
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
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