Bye-Bye Slobo

jf noonan jfn1 at msc.com
Thu Oct 5 13:57:22 PDT 2000


[From CNN.COM]

Plane departures fuel Milosevic speculation

Milosevic: No welcome from one of his few allies, Russia October 5, 2000 Web posted at: 4:33 PM EDT (2033 GMT)

BELGRADE, Yugoslavia -- Speculation grew over the whereabouts of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic after three military aircraft were reported to have taken off from a military airport near Belgrade.

"Three military Antonov AN 26 aircraft took off from Batajnica airport at 2020 (1820 GMT) toward the south," the independent Beta news agency reported, quoting unnamed sources from Yugoslav flight control.

Beta said the Yugoslav air force had Antonov AN 26s in its fleet. There was no one immediately available for comment at the flight control, or any indication of who might have been on the plane.

Yugoslav Opposition leader Zarco Korac however speculated that Milosevic could be sheltering at an army barracks.

"The truth might be that he's hiding somewhere within the country but whatever happens I don't think he has a safe haven in Serbia any more," he told CNN's Q&A.

"There's a lot of anger now and people are very, very furious and asking 'Where's Milosevic?' and I think it's good for him to hide for some time because he might face something like a very quick justice in the streets"

Earlier a statement from Milosevic's Socialist Party of Serbia said it would "fight against violence and destruction" with "all its force and in all state institutions."

There were fears the mayhem could allow Milosevic to declare a state of emergency and come down hard on his foes.

But his security forces appeared to be disintegrating, with protesters seizing police precincts without a fight. The level of defiance was unprecedented in Yugoslavia's 55-year communist history.

"They're giving up," said a demonstrator.

As official in Belarus was quoted as saying that his nation had no plans to grant asylum to Milosevic.

"Milosevic arriving in our capital Minsk is out of the question," Russia's Interfax news agency quoted an unnamed official in the presidential administration in Minsk as saying.

"There has been no discussion of Minsk granting asylum to Milosevic or him visiting Belarus neither through diplomatic channels nor by the two countries' leaderships. Speaking about a private visit by Milosevic is absurd, to say the least."

Belarus fiercely defended Milosevic's government during last year's NATO bombing campaign against Yugoslavia and President Alexander Lukashenko has suggested Belgrade could join his country's union with Russia.

The Associated Press & Reuters contributed to this report.



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