ZAGREB/THE HAGUE, July 2 (Hina) - Austrian diplomat Wolfgang Petritsch said on Tuesday former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic had full control over all developments in Yugoslavia when attempts were made to find a political
solution to the Kosovo crisis. Petritsch said Milosevic made the decision to sever the Kosovo peace negotiations in Rambouillet.
ZAGREB/THE HAGUE, July 2 (Hina) - Austrian diplomat Wolfgang
Petritsch said on Tuesday former Yugoslav President Slobodan
Milosevic had full control over all developments in Yugoslavia when
attempts were made to find a political solution to the Kosovo
crisis. Petritsch said Milosevic made the decision to sever the
Kosovo peace negotiations in Rambouillet. #L#
Everything indicated that one person dictated everything, and that
was Mr Milosevic, Petritsch said at the Milosevic trial before the
Hague-based UN war crimes tribunal.
Petritsch met with Milosevic on several occasions between 1997 and
1999, first as Austria's ambassador in Belgrade, and later as the
European Union's special envoy for Kosovo.
Milosevic had the final say, said Petritsch who, together with US
mediator Christopher Hill, tried to reach a peaceful solution for
Kosovo in Rambouillet early in 1999.
Petritsch is the first witness for the prosecution after a two-week
break in the trial, which was adjourned due to Milosevic's cold.
Petritsch attributed the failure of the Rambouillet negotiations
to Milosevic's decision to have Serbian negotiators change their
views regarding international presence in Kosovo.
The Yugoslav side recanted everything it said earlier, stated
Petritsch. It was clear they were instructed to force a negative
outcome, he said, but added he did not know who was behind it.
However, based on who was making the chief moves, he assumed it was
Milosevic.
Petritsch said that a member of the Yugoslav negotiating team in
Rambouillet, Vladimir Stambuk, told him there would be a massacre
in Kosovo if NATO shelled Serbia.
Petritsch said he was shocked, adding that he concluded from those
talks that the army and police would commit the massacre.
During cross-examination, Milosevic read out Stambuk's reaction to
the Petritsch claim, saying it was incorrect and ill-intentioned.
Milosevic insisted that a sovereign state was shelled for refusing
an ultimatum, i.e. a draft agreement on the Kosovo crisis.
The Milosevic trial is aired live in Serbia.
(hina) ha sb