EX-YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT LILIC TO TESTIFY IN MILOSEVIC TRIAL

BELGRADE, July 11 (Hina) - A former Yugoslav president, Zoran Lilic, who was at the helm of Yugoslavia from 1993 to 1997, and a high-ranking official of the Socialist Party of Serbia of the former Yugoslav autocrat, Slobodan Milosevic, on Thursday flew to The Hague to testify in the Milosevic trial. Lilic's attorney, Dragan Saponjic, was quoted by the Belgrade- based television "Studio B" as saying that summons to Lilic for his testifying before the UN war crimes tribunal (ICTY) had been handed over earlier in the day. After being informed of it by the Belgrade court, Lilic departed for the Netherlands on Thursday afternoon, the lawyer said. According to foreign agencies, the former Yugoslav top official did not voluntarily depart. His lawyer and wife claimed that the country's authorities forced him to go. According to a written statement forwarded to the Belgrade new agency "Beta", Lilic asserted that in the previous days he had conducted talks with the current senior officials of Yugoslavia and Serbia about a possibility for his appearance before the tribunal as a witness. On 9 July, Lilic talked with Serbian Premier Zoran Djindjic and told him that he did not want to travel to The Hague voluntarily, but "only if he receives an official summons from the Yugoslav authorities," the statement read. The Milosevic trial resumes on Monday. (hina) ms