Wesley Clark testifies in secret at Milosevic trial
UN tribunal lets US edit former Nato chief's evidence for broadcast
Ian Black in Brussels Tuesday December 16, 2003 The Guardian
Slobodan Milosevic's war crimes trial in The Hague heard testimony behind closed doors yesterday from the former Nato commander Wesley Clark, who is seeking the Democratic nomination in next year's presidential election.
Under a laboriously negotiated agreement with the tribunal, the US has the right to edit out evidence deemed damaging to national security. State department lawyers in court may apply to the three-man bench to make such deletions.
This process is intended to protect intelligence sources and methods, presumably including Nato eavesdropping on Serb communications.
The tribunal will broadcast the testimony on Friday.
Gen Clark was Nato's military chief during the Kosovo war in 1999 - the event which triggered the Yugoslav leader's downfall and handover to the UN court. He also earlier negotiated with Mr Milosevic, then the Serbian president, over ending the Bosnian war.
The two-day session in camera that began yesterday may turn out to foreshadow arrangements made for the trial of Saddam Hussein, whose friendly relations with the US and British governments in the 1980s are likely to prove embarrassing if testimony is in open court.
Gen Clark is the most senior US official to give evidence since the Milosevic trial began in February 2002. Richard Holbrooke, the former US Balkan negotiator, is also scheduled to appear.
Other star witnesses have included Britain's Lord Owen, the former EU envoy, and Paddy Ashdown, the former Liberal Democrat leader. Unlike them, Gen Clark appeared with the public gallery cleared and TV monitors and internet broadcast switched off.
Speaking outside the court afterwards, he said: "For the people of the region it's a very important experience. It's the rule of law. It's closure with a man who caused the deaths, or is alleged to have caused the deaths, of hundreds of thousands throughout Europe."
Mr Milosevic is charged with ethnic cleansing in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo in the 1990s. Prosecutors hope Gen Clark will back their claim Mr Milosevic was aware of atrocities, such as the massacre of up to 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica in July 1995.
It is hoped that the prosecution will finish its case by the end of the year, clearing the way for Mr Milosevic to start his defence next April. US commentators say the hearing could help Gen Clark's bid for the Democratic nomination.
Ironically, Mr Milosevic is running this month in Serbian parliamentary elections which could see renewed support for his Socialist party. Last week the tribunal banned candidates from using the facilities of the UN detention centre for campaigning.