LORD OWEN TESTIFIES AT MILOSEVIC TRIAL - PART 2

THE HAGUE/ZAGREB, Nov 3 (Hina) - A former European Union peace mediator for the former Yugoslavia, Lord David Owen, on Monday testified at the trial of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic about Milosevic's unwillingness to force Bosnian Serb leaders in 1993 to accept a peace plan which could have ended the war in the country two years earlier. #L# Owen said he believed that Milosevic had made a big mistake by not using his indisputable authority to impose the proposed solution on Bosnian Serbs. "If Milosevic had done it himself... we could have brought peace to Bosnia two years earlier," Owen said at the UN war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague. Owen believes that the continuation of the war, ethnic cleansing and killing during nearly three years of peace negotiations was the most tragic fact. A co-chairman of the Peace Conference on the former Yugoslavia from 1992 to 1995, Owen and US diplomat Cyprus Vance drew up a peace plan for Bosnia-Herzegovina, which fell through due to refusal by the Serbs. Owen was subpoenaed to the trial of the former Yugoslav president as a witness for the trial chamber and not the prosecution, but his appearance in the courtroom was used best by the prosecution, which proved that the public support of the accused to the Vance-Owen plan was a deceit which Owen, too, had fallen for. In a written statement that was introduced in the evidence file, Owen stated that Milosevic and the Bosnian Serb leadership went their separate ways and that Milosevic blockaded Serb-held areas of Bosnia-Herzegovina and even gave up his project of a Great Serbia due to the Serbs' refusal of the Vance-Owen plan in 1993. Citing transcripts which were previously introduced as evidence, prosecutor Geoffrey Nice said that Milosevic had never given up the project of a united Serb state and that the blockade was fake. Milosevic's statement before the council in charge of harmonising the policies of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the Republika Srpska and the (rebel Croatian Serbs') Republic of Serb Krajina that Serb-held areas "have already been integrated and it only remains to legalise their status" and (Bosnian Serb military leader) Ratko Mladic's statement in the Bosnian Serb parliament about thousands of tons of ammunition arriving from Yugoslavia at the time of the border blockade surprised Lord Owen, who said that he actually did not know about them and might have been in the wrong. He said that the Bosnian Serb army could not have survived without logistic support from Yugoslavia, but that Milosevic did not want to do anything that could have led to the Serbs' defeat. Along with weapons and military equipment, Yugoslavia also sent oil to Bosnian Serbs, and once that line of supply was threatened, they bought oil from the Croatian government, Owen said. The witness confirmed that Milosevic had known that Serbian forces were operating in Bosnia-Herzegovina, but that he categorically denied their involvement. Owen added that Milosevic and other leaders in the former Yugoslavia had been telling him untruths. During the testimony, Owen also spoke about Croatian President Franjo Tudjman in the context of his agreement with Milosevic to divide Bosnia-Herzegovina and his not hiding his wish to seize parts of the neighbouring country. Stating that he did not agree with Tudjman about many things, Owen said that Tudjman had effectively controlled the negotiating position of Mate Boban, unlike Milosevic, who he said did not try to influence Radovan Karadzic with the same determination. Owen also spoke about Milosevic's financial transactions in Cyprus and other off-shore zones, stating that he acted as a narco-boss. Commenting on Milosevic's attitude towards Kosovo, he said that the Kosovo theme was his power base in Belgrade and was non-negotiable for him. The former peace mediator also spoke about Serb paramilitary forces and media control, which he said Milosevic had inherited from Tito. Speaking about Srebrenica, he said that the accused had foreseen a bloodbath back in 1993, as retaliation for the killing of Serb civilians in Bratunac, and added that there were not many people in Srebrenica who were not guilty of anything. Cross-examining the witness, Milosevic tried to prove that he did not deceive Owen and other peace mediators, claiming that he was being blamed for not imposing something on the neighbouring state (the Bosnian Serb entity). He said that other countries had helped Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia, so "why should not Serbia help the Serbs?". He dedicated much of his time to the importance of the Bosnian government propaganda, especially TV images of the besieged Sarajevo. Owen said the propaganda campaign was conducted by the then Bosnian deputy prime minister Ejup Ganic, who had estimated that there would be no fair solution for Bosniaks unless the US got involved militarily. That proved correct, and in August and September 1995 the United States used force, which changed the situation, Owen said. Owen resumes his testimony on Tuesday. (hina) rml sb