THE HAGUE/ZAGREB, June 19 (Hina) - Slobodan Milosevic's predecessor as Yugoslavia's president, Zoran Lilic, on Thursday temporarily ended his testimony in the Milosevic trial before the U.N. war crimes tribunal at The Hague, but will
return for another day of testifying at the decision of the trial chamber.
THE HAGUE/ZAGREB, June 19 (Hina) - Slobodan Milosevic's
predecessor as Yugoslavia's president, Zoran Lilic, on Thursday
temporarily ended his testimony in the Milosevic trial before the
U.N. war crimes tribunal at The Hague, but will return for another
day of testifying at the decision of the trial chamber. #L#
Cross-examining Lilic today, Milosevic tried to prove that when he
held the office of Yugoslavia's head of state he did everything in
his power to stop the war in Kosovo and the NATO bombing of
Yugoslavia. As evidence, Milosevic mentioned a letter he wrote to
Lilic in which he consented to bringing a U.N. military mission to
Kosovo.
Lilic said Milosevic did not want to accept the strategic part of
the mission, namely for the mission to include troops from a NATO
member which was also a permanent member of the U.N. Security
Council.
"I am repeating for the fifth time that you did not accept that
proposal," said the witness.
Over his three-day testimony, Lilic described how not one important
decision in Belgrade in the 1990s was made without the direct
approval of Milosevic and his closest associates, including his
wife.
Lilic contested, however, the part of the indictment accusing
Milosevic of genocide in Srebrenica in 1995. He said that
Milosevic, upon hearing of the massacre of Bosnian Muslims, "was
visibly shocked and angry", and had described the Bosnian Serb
leadership as "mad people if they were capable of ordering that".
"I am deeply convinced Milosevic could not have issued an order for
something like that," said Lilic.
He said Milosevic had a "big influence" over the Bosnian Serb
leadership but added that "control", the term used by the
prosecution to describe Milosevic's relationship with top Bosnian
Serb officials, was "too strong".
The witness also said that from 1993 through 1997, the government in
Belgrade set aside EUR8 million annually for the salaries of
military commanders in the Republic of Serb Krajina (RSK) parastate
in Croatia and the Bosnian Serb (RS) entity.
Lilic also quoted Milosevic from a 1993 meeting at which he spoke
about the situation in RSK and RS and said that what had been
achieved on the ground had to be legitimised before the
international community.
Milosevic used the cross-examination to say that the election of
Alija Izetbegovic as Bosnia's president had led to fatal
consequences for the continuation of the war in Bosnia because the
election had "opened the door of Islamic fundamentalism".
"That was one of the biggest evils which happened on Bosnian
territory, Islamic fundamentalism," Lilic concurred.
He also said that in 1998 he warned Milosevic the Yugoslav Army was
being illegally used in the Kosovo conflicts, but Milosevic brushed
off the warnings.
The witness denied the existence of a plan in Belgrade to expel
Albanians from Kosovo in 1999.
Lilic held the president's office from 1993 through 1997, when he
was succeeded by Milosevic, who before then had been Serbia's
president for two terms.
Milosevic is accused of crimes against humanity committed in
Croatia and Kosovo and of genocide in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The trial resumes on Tuesday.
(hina) ha