BELGRADE: REACTIONS TO GOVT REGULATION ON COOPERATION WITH ICTY

BELGRADE, March 28 (Hina) - Commenting on a regulation on cooperation with the Hague war crimes tribunal adopted by the Serbian government on Wednesday, Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica said one had to cooperate with the tribunal, but the thought of that institution made "his stomach turn". #L# Speaking in a Serbian Radio-Television broadcast, Kostunica said he was "absolutely against such a hand-over to the Hague tribunal which is not based on the law", but that he had no influence in that regard. Kostunica's Democratic Party of Serbia whip in the Serbian parliament, Dejan Mihajlov, said that "direct cooperation, i.e. extradition, violates the rule of law", and added that some were not willing to regulate the cooperation with a law. "The adoption of such a law is being ignored so that the current form of cooperation with The Hague could be used for unprincipled pressures to gain political points", he said. The whip of the ruling DOS coalition's bench said the Serbian government should decide to what extent and over which period of time it would cooperate with the tribunal, but the obligation to cooperate could not be brought into question. The government will provide guarantees for anyone who voluntarily surrenders to the tribunal, but it has no obligation to protect anyone who fails to do so, he said. Asked who was to leave for The Hague next, Branko Ruzic, spokesman for the Socialist Party of Serbia of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, said that "the question should be put to (Serbian Premier) Zoran Djindjic, who is willing to sell his citizens". Ruzic said that the provision of guarantees for voluntary surrender "is an attempt to create an atmosphere in which it would be normal to extradite our citizens to a foreign, political court". (hina) rml