ZAGREB, April 2 (Hina) - The arrest of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic has been a necessary but definitely not a sufficient step Yugoslav authorities have had to make, Prime Minister Ivica Racan told a regular, monthly
news conference on Monday. Urged by reporters to comment on the arrest, which was carried out in Belgrade on Sunday, Racan said "the necessary step has been taken, but in no way a sufficient one" and that "new steps will have to follow" given that Milosevic has only been charged with corruption and abuse of office. "We shall be satisfied once Milosevic has been accused of the real thing for which in this region he is absolutely the most responsible, the criminal aspects of the Greater Serbia policy, of war crimes as a consequence of that policy," said Racan. He added it had evidently been easier to separate Milosevic from authorities in Serbia, but was much more difficult to separate Serbia from
ZAGREB, April 2 (Hina) - The arrest of former Yugoslav President
Slobodan Milosevic has been a necessary but definitely not a
sufficient step Yugoslav authorities have had to make, Prime
Minister Ivica Racan told a regular, monthly news conference on
Monday.
Urged by reporters to comment on the arrest, which was carried out
in Belgrade on Sunday, Racan said "the necessary step has been
taken, but in no way a sufficient one" and that "new steps will have
to follow" given that Milosevic has only been charged with
corruption and abuse of office.
"We shall be satisfied once Milosevic has been accused of the real
thing for which in this region he is absolutely the most
responsible, the criminal aspects of the Greater Serbia policy, of
war crimes as a consequence of that policy," said Racan.
He added it had evidently been easier to separate Milosevic from
authorities in Serbia, but was much more difficult to separate
Serbia from Milosevic's policy. It will take time, he asserted.
"Serbia will have definitely distanced itself from Milosevic's
Greater Serbia policy when they have summed up courage to accuse
Milosevic in Serbia as the most accountable culprit for those war
crimes," said Racan.
Asked about an announced meeting with Slovene Prime Minister Janez
Drnovsek, Racan said it should occur in the next two weeks. It will
be another opportunity to review the relations between the two
countries and examine possibilities for resolving open issues.
Asked how it had been possible that during recent operations on the
Kosovo-Macedonia border Macedonian soldiers carried Croatian
machine guns, Racan denied the existence of any document on the sale
of Croatian weaponry to Macedonia. He said that presently he could
not talk about the fact that some weapons from Croatia or Bosnia
were evidently being illegally taken to various sides.
Racan said combating illegal trafficking in weapons was a component
part of combating organised crime. He conceded much weaponry in
Croatia was still out of control, and that an Interior Ministry
action aimed at collecting weapons from individuals had
backfired.
The government is considering the issue and seeking a way to collect
weapons in possession of individuals more efficiently, the prime
minister said, adding he expected a stronger combating of organised
crime would undermine possibilities of illegal trafficking.
(hina) ha sb