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Milosevic 'nationalist not racist'
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) -- Slobodan Milosevic is "fundamentally not a racist," but a nationalist who failed to use his power to stop the Bosnian war, the European Union's wartime envoy testified Monday. Lord David Owen, who served as the EU special mediator for Bosnia, testified at the former Serbian leader's war crimes trial, saying Milosevic had a "power of influence" over Serb leaders in the neighboring Bosnia. Milosevic tried to make the world believe that the Bosnian Serbs were beyond the control of Belgrade, but he "knew perfectly well that that was not the truth," Owen said. "I believe he did have that power. I know at times he felt he didn't, but at that time his power and influence over the Bosnian and Croatian Serbs was strong," Owen said. Milosevic "had the force in the JNA (Yugoslav army) to simply stop them," he said. The U.N.-backed International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia has charged Milosevic with 66 counts of war crimes. Milosevic denies all allegations, including charges of genocide by Bosnian Serbs of about 7,500 Muslims in the U.N.-declared safe area of Srebrenica. U.N. prosecutors say the murders were part of a plan, designed by Milosevic and hardline nationalists in Belgrade, to create a pure "greater Serbia" empty of non-Serbs. Owen helped design a peace plan in January 1993 that failed to halt the bloodshed sparked by Bosnia's declaration of independence from Yugoslavia in 1992. Backed by the Yugoslav army, Bosnian Serbs rebelled against the secession, sparking a war among Bosnian Serbs, Muslims and Croats that ended with the 1995 Dayton peace accords. Tens of thousands of people were killed in the wars. Owen characterized Milosevic, who oversaw the breakup of Yugoslavia and four Balkan wars, as a pragmatist. He "is not fundamentally a racist. He is a nationalist, but that he wears lightly. He is a pragmatist," said Owen, sitting in court a few meters from Milosevic. During cross-examination, Milosevic contested Owen's claim that he had control over troops responsible for atrocities in Bosnia. Owen resigned as the EU mediator in June 1995, but continued for more than two years to try to implement peace. He regularly met with Milosevic, then president of Serbia. Owen testified that in a telephone conversation with Milosevic on April 16, 1993, more than two years before the fall of Srebrenica, Milosevic expressed concern about a confrontation between Muslim and Serbian forces. "He feared that if the Bosnian Serb troops entered Srebrenica there would be a bloodbath because of the tremendous bad blood that existed between the two armies," Owen said. Milosevic had rarely been so frustrated, he said. The U.N. court, established in 1993 to prosecute political and military leaders responsible for atrocities in the Balkans since 1991, is trying dozens of suspects on all sides of the Balkan wars. The bulk of cases are against Bosnian Serbs. Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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