Milosevic move prompts aid pledges

Milosevic, centre, arrived at The Hague early on Friday

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- The international community has come to Yugoslavia's aid as it seeks to rebuild its damaged country following the extradition of former president Slobodan Milosevic.

A day after Milosevic was transferred to The Hague to face war crimes charges, donors including the U.S., European Union, and World Bank pledged millions of dollars of aid money.

Yugoslavia has asked for $1.25 billion to help re-build the nation after 13 years of Milosevic's economic mismanagement, international sanctions and NATO's 78-day bombing campaign in 1999.

QUICKVOTE Will Slobodan Milosevic receive a fair trial at the U.N. War Crimes Tribunal? Yes No - he should have been tried at home View Results VIDEO CNN's Alessio Vinci reports on the Milosevic extradition (June 28) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)   AUDIO CNN's Christiane Amanpour: Milosevic will appear in court on Tuesday 813 KB / 70 secs AIFF or WAV sound Russian concern over extradition 1.76 MB / 170 secs AIFF or WAV sound   RESOURCES The ICTY indictment against Slobodan Milosevic  (United Nations) War crimes tribunal: Key facts

Milosevic's extradition had been made a condition of releasing further aid by some countries, with the U.S. threatening to boycott the conference if he was not handed over.

The U.S. pledged $181 million and the European Commission pledged 530 million euros ($445 million) as the donor's conference got under way on Friday morning.

The 15 individual EU nations were expected to make further donations, Associated Press reported.

"We did it. Now it's your turn," said Yugoslav Deputy Prime Minister Miroljub Labus in his opening address to the meeting, referring to international demands to extradite Milosevic. "We promised a clear cut-off with the past. We are on that way."

Johannes Linn of the World Bank said the organisation had pledged $150 million for this calendar year, adding this would form part of a $540 million package spread over a five-year period.

The EU, co-hosting Friday's meeting with the World Bank, said Milosevic's departure marked a turning point in the EU's relations with Yugoslavia.

"The European Commission is extremely pleased with what is happening," EU spokesman Gunnar Wiegand said.

"This will certainly influence the attitude of donors at the conference."

Milosevic, 59, was removed from prison in Yugoslavia on Thursday, and arrived at The Hague early on Friday morning where he has remained in custody.

Milosevic was the first head of state indicted on war crimes charges and becomes the first former head of state to be transferred to The Hague for trial.

"The next step is his first appearance in court. We expect that to be Tuesday morning," Jim Landale, a spokesman the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, told CNN.

At that appearance, prosecutors would read aloud the status of the charges and Milosevic would then enter his plea to each charge.

Milosevic was indicted in 1999 for the crackdown carried out by security forces in Kosovo against ethnic Albanians before NATO's air war.

The charges of crimes against humanity include charges of murder, deportation and prosecution of people on political, racial and ethnic grounds. The maximum sentence Milosevic could receive if convicted is life in prison.

The EU's pledge of 230 million euros would go towards an economic recovery and transition programme for Yugoslavia, drawn up jointly by the Commission and the World Bank for 2001.

The commission would add another 300 million euros in assistance through loans and grants over 2001 and 2002, Wiegand said.

In addition, the EU is to ask the European Investment Bank, its lending arm, to extend loan guarantees for up to 350 million euros in support of an International Monetary Fund programme.

Labus appealed to the donor countries for support

The EU already gave about 200 million euros late last year as part of a winter emergency aid programme, helping provide electricity and heating fuel.

Yugoslavia suffers from a 150-percent annual inflation, a foreign debt of $12 billion and a 50 percent jobless rate. Infrastructure was badly damaged by the 1999 NATO bombing campaign and foreign investors have stayed clear.

Some fear social turmoil may explode because of fast deteriorating living standards if no fresh money is invested in the country.

Key areas for spending will be Yugoslavia's basic infrastructure -- water supply, roads, telecommunications, electric power generation -- as well as investments in health and education, officials said.