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Show _TheSaltLake Tribune NATION/WORLD Frida: y exile in Montenegro, Serbia’s sis- Serbs Denounce Indictmentas A Blow to Peace ; ter republic in the Yugoslav federation. “The second phase would be to find out whois responsible. Now it will be difficult to bring the war to an end.” NATOis bombing Yugoslavia to halt a brutal crackdown by Yugoslav army and Serbian police @ Continued from A-1 forces whohave driven more than 800,000 ethnic Albanians from Kosovo during a fight with the mostly ignored the brutality of guerrillas. Hundredsofcivilians the 15-month-old crackdown on have been executed, tortured or ethnic Albanian separatists in Ko- raped, according to reports from refugees, humanitarian-aid workers and independent journalists. sovo, a southern provinceof Serbia — the dominant republic of Yugoslavia. am. While manySerbsfault Milose- Instead, as word ofthe indict| ment spread through the Yugo| vie for contributing to the conflict, few hold him exclusivelyresponsible. Human-rights activists in Belgrade say The Hague tribunal's unprecedented indictment of a sitting president is unlikely to slav capital, the most disturbing message it carried to Serbs was 4, that, with their president nowof- the } ficially branded a war criminal, the i. any negotiated end to NATO's s) punishing bombardment seemed change that view. Milosevic also benefits at home from the fact that his forces are | more remote than ever. | That fear was reinforced as )} fighting to protect Serbia and Yu- Russian peace envoy Viktor Cher{+ nomyrdin postponed a scheduled goslavia from dismemberment. While accusing NATO of backing the separatist guerrillas, he stood firm in refusing to withdrawhis troopsandallowan international peacekeeping force in Kosovo. But in the past month, the Yugoslav leader has made several gestures, including a token withdrawal of some troops from the province, in an effort to end the bombing. NATO has dismissed each gesture as insignificant, but Milosevic has managed, in Serbia at least, to look like the party mostinterested in peace. #f) visit to Belgrade on Thursday and ##NATO missiles hit electric power hil 18 PPfacilities after dark, blacking out Hi he city and muchofSerbia for the third time in less than a week. “Now all negotiations will stop, ” said Branka Petricevic, 60, E who manages a downtown mani- cure salon. “That court has low- _ered a noose over our hopes for 5 peace andis slowly tighteningit.”” As for the charges against her president, she echoed the widely held view here that the court in International Pressure Mounts for Kosovo Ground War war, Chernomyrdinsaid, “I shall advise Russia’s president to suspend Russian participa- BYTYLER MARSHALL LOS AN TIMES tionin the negotiating process, put an end to all military-technological cooperation with extremelydifficult militarily. The terrain is hostile and the region remote. Supplylines for any ground force would be long and tenuous. Macedoniasays it would not permit a NATO WASHINGTON — Fast-moving events far from Yugoslavia, culminating in Thursday’s indictment of President Slobodan Milosevic on war-crimes charges, point increasingly in the direction of a NATOground invasion of Kosovo. Thereis only one catch. NATOis as deter- stiffen resolve amonghesitant allies at a time NATO’s hawks hope the indictment will States, appearsallergic even to planning for seemed to be building within the alliance in The indictment makes it immeasurably the Clinton administration’s body language seems to be listing heavily toward seeking a deal that might shave at least some corners from the alliance’s five goals. These include the United States and Western Europe,putoff theratification of STARTI! [treaty] and use Russia’s veto as the United Nations debates a resolution on Yugoslavia.” minedas everto avoid that route. ‘The new pressure for a ground waris unmistakable. moredifficult for President Clintonto resolve thecrisis with a combination of continuingairstrikes and diplomacy. It removes anyincen- the withdrawalofall Yugoslav security forces from Kosovo and arobust international secu- rity force with NATO troopsatits coreto keep invasion fromits territory. Albania, the alter native, has only three pavedroadsinto Kosovo across a long, mountainousfrontier. MNATO’s biggest member, the United such a contingency. As political momentum favorofan invasion beforelast month's NATO summit in Washington, the White House pre empted a formal discussion. @ Domestic public opinion and other constraints in many alliance countries work against the logic of invasion. German Foreign Minister Joscke Fischer reminded reporters in Washington earlier this week that Germany tive for Milosevic to seek peace. Andeven if he were willing to negotiate, NATOleaders would find him a distasteful figure to face across a bargainingtable. Milosevie's indictment bythe International the peace in the province oncethefighting WarCrimes Tribunalfor the former Yugosla- demics andregional experts had beeninsist- via coincided with a broadside from Moscow at diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict. Russia’s special envoy for the Kosovocrisis ing stridently that it would takea groundinva- Win Greece, where public-opinion polls showmorethan 90 percentof respondents op sion to endthewar. pose NATO's air campaign, the government ends. “It will reduce the temptationto do a shabby deal,” noted one European diplomat Even before Milosevic’s indictment, aca: Such talk has been conspicuously ab: nt Is, however, at NATO headquarters in Br Belgium, andat the White House The reasons for the obvious lack of enthusiasmfor a ground forceare threefold: Aground invasion of Kosovo would be former premier Viktor Chernomyrdin, writ. ing in the Washington Post, delivered a good imitation of old-fashioned Soviet-style saberrattling. If NATOdoesnot promptly suspendits air is politically unable to haveits 5,000 troops already in the region to enforce a possible peace agreementused for combat operations would almost surelyfall if it let the alliance usethe mostsuitable portin the region, Thes saloniki, for an armedintervention. There is similar reluctance in Hungary, which is aware of the implications for the large Hungarian minority in northern Yugoslavia. Opposition leaders said Thurs- The Hague was manipulated by NATO to justify its continued bombing. “I cannot say that our Milosevic is good,” she added. day they were worried that the indictments would push Milosevic, who had reportedly been seeking “But [NATO’'s] ‘Milosevics’ are muchworse.” Such remarksindicate that the Yugoslav leader continues to a deal that included immunity from prosecution, to the conclu- sion that he is cornered and has no incentive to compromise. draw strength from the bombing assault, despite claims by NATO. “The indictmentsarea political provocation to undermine peace initiatives,” said Vuk Draskovie and Clinton administration officials thatit is weakening him. of the Serbian Renewal Move- Opposition leaders in Belgrade say the bombinghasfailed to provoke more thanscattered popular resistance to the regime, which has imposed censorship and other ment, the leading opposition figure in Belgrade. “I hope President Milosevic will ignore them.” Somepoliticians and analystsin Belgradebelieve that Milosevic’s support among business leaders wartimecurbs ontheir activities. Outrage against NATO is widespread, and open dissent is seen could weaken if he becomes more intransigent and the bombing as comforting the enemy takes a heavier economictoll. The Just as they protested NATO's bombing from thestart, foes of Milosevic from all parties closed ranks with his supporters Thursday in criticizing the indictment — orat least its timing — as a fresh obstacle to peace. “The first priority must be to top-ranking officers of the army and interior ministries were in- dicted with him, but unrest could grow among lower-ranking officersas their troops suffer heavier casualties in time. Others caution that little is known about the armed forces outside the officer corps and that end the war,” Zoran Djindjic, there is no sign of dissent yet president of the main opposition Democratic Party, said from self- within its ranks. 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