Friday June 29 3:26 AM ET

Milosevic in Hague on War Crimes Charges

By Alastair Macdonald

THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Slobodan Milosevic, widely blamed for a decade of bloody ethnic cleansings in the Balkans, was in jail in The Hague on Friday facing charges of crimes against humanity.

The former Yugoslav president, 59, was whisked to the Scheveningen detention center by helicopter an hour after midnight local time (7:15 p.m. EDT) after a flight to the Netherlands from Belgrade via Bosnia.

``He's in the detention unit,'' International Criminal Tribunal spokesman Jim Landale told reporters, ending a climate of suspense that surrounded the anticipated arrival.

At one nearby military airbase, reporters saw a large plane land without lights on a darkened runway. But it could not be identified and rumors flew until the helicopter touched down inside the compound to applause from waiting bystanders.

Milosevic, flanked by two guards, was led across the grounds of the Scheveningen jail to the tribunal's detention center.

Milosevic will be the first head of state to be tried for alleged war crimes carried out while in office.

Landale said Milosevic would make an initial appearance in court within a few days when a judge will ask him to plead guilty or not guilty to the four war crimes counts.

Serbia's reformist authorities handed him over despite legal attempts by his allies to block the move. He was taken from his cell in Belgrade's Central Prison and flown by helicopter to the big U.S.-run airbase outside Tuzla, northern Bosnia.

Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Zarko Korac told Reuters the ex-president had been placed in the custody of a representative of the Hague Tribunal in Belgrade before leaving.

His transfer clears the way for Yugoslavia to receive around $1.3 billion in funds to restore an economy shattered by NATO bombing and sanctions imposed to punish Milosevic's policies.

By daybreak on a bright sunny Friday, a lone policeman was clearing tape used to keep back crowds of media and locals from Milosevic's new home.

The jail, a working Dutch prison part of which is U.N. property, was once used by the Nazis to detain Dutch resistance fighters who are commemorated by a plaque near one entrance.

NOT ALL APPLAUD

But the political costs may be high.

Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica, who describes himself as a moderate nationalist, in hard-hitting comments late on Thursday slammed the handover of his predecessor as illegal, raising the prospect of political turmoil over the handover.

Montenegro's Socialist People's Party (SNP), a former ally of Milosevic's now in government with the Serb reformers who toppled him, has consistently opposed moves to hand him over and its leader said the transfer spelled the end of the coalition.

``We will remain firm in our stand. This is the end of the coalition,'' SNP chief Predrag Bulatovic told Reuters in Montenegro's main city Podgorica.

``I don't see how they will be able to avoid a government crisis,'' commented one Western diplomat in Belgrade.

The domestic criticism was in sharp contrast to reactions in the West, where President Bush and other leaders applauded the move .

``The transfer of Milosevic to The Hague is an unequivocal message to those persons who brought such tragedy and brutality to the Balkans that they will be held accountable for their crimes,'' Bush said in a statement in Washington.

The Tribunal's chief prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte, said the transfer was only the beginning of a lengthy legal process.

``This day will be remembered as an important milestone for international criminal justice,'' she said in a statement.

``The transfer itself does not represent the end of the process. On the contrary, this is only the beginning of criminal proceedings and a great deal of work now has to be done to bring the case to a just conclusion,'' she said.

The press hailed Milosevic's transfer as a giant step forward for international justice.

``Tyrant's extradition is a warning to the world's war criminals,'' Britain's conservative Daily Telegraph said.

However, Dutch left-leaning newspaper De Volkskrant, reminded its readers that Balkan conflict was far from over, with Macedonia as possibly the next bloody chapter.

BIG FISH AT LARGE

The handover struck one big name from the top of the tribunal's wanted list, but plenty of others remain at large.

Indisputably top of the list are Bosnian Serb wartime leaders Radovan Karadzic and General Ratko Mladic, both accused of genocide -- the tribunal's most serious charge.

The Hague tribunal indicted Milosevic in May 1999, accusing him of responsibility for the mass killings and expulsions of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo province.

Del Ponte also plans to charge him with war crimes committed in Bosnia and Croatia, where the breakaway of the two former Yugoslav republics from Belgrade's control sparked four years of
war that killed more than 200,000 people.

Croatia and Bosnia say Milosevic armed and supported nationalist Serbs who resisted incorporation into the new states. They say he was partly responsible for vicious campaigns to drive out Croats and Muslims from Serb-dominated areas.

One official involved in The Hague tribunal was jubilant. ''We're over the moon. This is the crowning moment for us.''

Around 2,000 angry Milosevic supporters rallied in central Belgrade to protest against the handover. Some tried to beat up cameramen from Western media. They denounced Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic and other reformists behind the handover.

Earlier on Thursday Yugoslavia's Constitutional Court, stacked with Milosevic loyalists, ordered a freeze on all moves to transfer him.

But their decision did not officially take effect until Friday and the Serbian government, in emergency session, decided to act swiftly on extradition in case procedures bogged down.

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