_WORLD WATCH______________________________
________________Yugoslavia_______________
Government split on Milosevic extradition
New divisions arise after former leader’s departure
With the country’s former President Slobodan Milosevic in prison facing war-crimes trials, the government of Yugoslavia is facing severe internal divisions, which may prove more important than the foreign aid that is beginning to flow.
Led by the United States, foreign donors are expected to provide over $1 billion in immediate aid to Yugoslavia, to help rebuild the country and repair war damages. US officials had told authorities in Belgrade that the aid would not be forthcoming until Milosevic was handed over to international authorities.
But the government of Yugoslavia is facing sharp protests as a result of the decision to turn over the former leader. Milosevic himself, in a phone call to his family from his prison cell at The Hague, described his extradition as a “kidnapping.” His supporters staged street protests in Belgrade, which occasionally flared into violence.
Perhaps more important, the leadership of the federal government found itself split by the case. President Vojislav Kostunica sternly criticized Serbia’s Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic for ignoring a federal court order to hold off on the extradition. And the federal government’s Prime Minister Zoran Zizic resigned in protest against the move.
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