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US Announces Assistance to Yugoslavia
The United States will continue its assistance to Yugoslavia following the arrest of former President Slobodan Milosevic, the State Department announced Monday.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell "conveyed his decision to Congress on the issue of the certification of the Federal Republic in Yugoslavia for the purposes of our aid to programs there," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said.
"The secretary determined that Yugoslavia had met the criteria of Section 594 of the Foreign Operations Export Financing and Related Programs Appropriation Act of 2001. In making this determination, however, the secretary qualified the certification, " Boucher said.
But the Bush administration "intends to continue to press Yugoslav authorities to follow through on their stated intention to cooperate fully with the international criminal tribunal for Yugoslavia," he said.
"The United States support for holding of an international donors conference will depend on continued progress by Yugoslavia and Serbia toward full cooperation with the Tribunal," he added.
Apparently under the pressure from U.S. government and Congress, the Serbian government arrested not only Milosevic but also two other officials have been accused of war crimes and could face prosecution by an international tribunal in The Hague, the Netherlands.
And yet, the government of Vojislav Kostunica has indicated Milosevic will be tried in Yugoslavia on charges of corruption and abuse of power, instead of war crimes.
U.S. Congress has passed a law saying no non-humanitarian U.S. funds should go to Belgrade after March 31 unless it is certified as passing a series of democracy tests, including cooperating with a tribunal in The Hague that wants to try Milosevic for alleged war crimes.
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