[EAS]More on Serbia

[pjk]

Subject:   More on Serbia

(from The Scout Report -- October 6 2000)

All Signs Point to Milosevic Ouster
Uprising in Serbia -- CNN [QuickTime, RealPlayer, Windows Media Player]
http://europe.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2000/yugo.crisis/index.html
Yugoslavia Today -- Central Europe Online
http://www.centraleurope.com/yugoslaviatoday/
Crisis in Yugoslavia -- BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/in_depth/europe/2000/yugoslav_electio
ns/default.stm
Balkan Crisis Reports -- Institute for War and Peace Reporting
http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl5?balkans_index.html
Tanjug News Agency
http://www.tanjug.co.yu/
Free B92 [RealPlayer, .mp3]
http://www.freeb92.net/
Serbian Info News -- Ministry of Information
http://www.serbia-info.com/
Democratic Party (Yugoslavia)
http://www.ds.org.yu/english/index.html
Socialist Party of Serbia
http://www.sps.org.yu/eng/index-n.htm
"In Belgrade, Russian Envoy Greets Kostunica as Army Remains Aloof"
-- _New York Times_
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/06/world/06CND-YUGO2.html
"Yugoslav Citizen Army Seizes Belgrade" -- _Washington Post_
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20129-2000Oct5.html

Slobodan Milosevic's allies have apparently deserted him en masse as
a citizen army hundreds of thousands strong throngs Belgrade in
support of the opposition leader Vojislav Kostunica. After several
days of successful general strikes in the countryside and smaller
towns, opposition supporters descended on the capital in huge convoys
yesterday and seized control of the federal parliament building after
encountering only brief and sporadic resistance from the police. The
reluctance of the police to prop up Milosevic's regime was matched by
the nation's military leaders, who met yesterday to discuss their
response to this relatively nonviolent revolution. Though they issued
no formal statement, it has become increasingly clear that the army
will not act to disperse the demonstrators or maintain Milosevic in
power. Another and perhaps final blow to the Serbian president came
today when Russia, Serbia's most powerful and consistent ally,
recognized Mr. Kostunica as president-elect. Milosevic is rumored to
be in Belgrade, where he apparently met with the Russian Foreign
Minister, Igor Ivanov, to discuss the handover of power. In addition
to securing control of the major media outlets in Serbia, the
opposition under Mr. Kostunica has announced the creation of a crisis
committee to govern the country and secure order after several days
of a political vacuum. They hope to convene the new federal
parliament on Saturday to swear Kostunica in as president. In a show
of support for the opposition, European Union leaders have indicated
that sanctions against Serbia may be lifted as early as Monday. While
many questions remain, not the least Mr. Milosevic's indictment for
war crimes by the International Criminal Tribunal, it does indeed
appear that he has fallen from power faster and with less violence
than anyone might have predicted.

CNN offers a fairly deep special report on these events, with
breaking news, archived articles, photos and video, analysis, and
some interactive features. Additional special reports are available
from Central Europe Online, the BBC, and the Institute for War and
Peace Reporting. Breaking news and analysis from within Serbia are
available from the state news agency Tanjug (now controlled by the
opposition) and Free B92. The Serbian Ministry of Information site,
at time of writing still under the control of Milosevic supporters,
reports on recent events from the opposite perspective. Official
press releases from the opposition are available at the Democratic
Party site, while the site for Milosevic's Socialist Party appears
not to have been updated for a few days. Finally, more analysis is
available from the _New York Times_ (free registration required) and
the _Washington Post_.