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Kostunica Defends Army Role in Arrest of Milosevic
Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica said on Tuesday at a monthly press conference that the armed forces acted "absolutely in line with existing laws" during the apprehension of former president Slobodan Milosevic.
Kostunica referred to the allegation that the armed forces had tried to obstruct the arrest of Milosevic. He said the critics were irresponsible and negligent of the different functions between the armed forces and the police.
Interior Ministry of the Serbia Republic said on Monday the police found weapons and ammunition in and out of the official residence of Milosevic, some of which were related to the armed forces.
The General Staff of the Yugoslav Armed Forces denied the accusation Monday.
Earlier Saturday, the Serbian government said "some persons of the General Staff and its affiliated army had purposely stood in the way of police efforts to arrest Milosevic."
The General Staff issued an announcement on the same day saying the accusation was groundless and the army was defending important establishments of the federal institution, including Milosevic's residence but not the former president.
It is a duty authorized by the constitution and the army will always act in this way, the announcement said.
Milosevic was arrested early Sunday and taken to jail.
Serbian President Milan Milutinovic, once a close associate of Milosevic, announced Tuesday that he would leave the office of vice-chairman of Milosevic's Serbian Socialist Party and membership in the party's highest committee under pressure from the party.
Milutinovic had been Yugoslav's foreign minister before he became Serbian President in December 1997. He was also indicted by the U.N. tribunal in May 1999 on the same Kosovo war-crime charges that Milosevic faces.
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