WASHINGTON, March 31 (Hina) - The United States on Wednesday temporarily suspended financial assistance to Serbia and Montenegro due to the country's failure to hand over indictees of the UN war crimes tribunal for the former
Yugoslavia in The Hague.
WASHINGTON, March 31 (Hina) - The United States on Wednesday
temporarily suspended financial assistance to Serbia and Montenegro
due to the country's failure to hand over indictees of the UN war
crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague.#L#
US Secretary of State Colin Powell decided that Serbia and Montenegro
was not fully cooperating with the tribunal, which is a precondition
for assistance, State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said.
Serbia and Montenegro was to receive some 100 million in aid this
year, and of that amount some 43 million has already been spent.
Some 25 million will be withheld after this decision, Ereli said.
The decision does not refer to humanitarian aid, assistance for the
promotion of democracy, and assistance for Kosovo.
Ereli said the reason for the decision was the non-extradition of 16
indictees of the UN tribunal who lived most of the time in Serbia and
Montenegro, including Ratko Mladic.
By law, Powell had to certify to Congress by Wednesday that the
authorities in Belgrade were cooperating with the tribunal to have the
assistance granted.
US aid to Serbia and Montenegro can resume if the US government
testifies to Belgrade's cooperation with the tribunal.
(Hina) rml