See You in Court, Slobo? Not Any Time Soon

Throwing the book at Slobodan Milosevic in absentia is unlikely to dramatically change the Kosovo peace equation. The International War Crimes Tribunal in the Hague Thursday indicted Milosevic and four of his lieutenants for war crimes over the deportation of 740,000 Kosovar Albanians and the murder of 340. Although the move could complicate peace talks by making it morally more difficult for the West to make a deal with Milosevic, as well as by potentially adding further incentive for him to fight on, such complications may only be minor. "In the absence of an arrest, this indictment is essentially moralizing," says TIME Pentagon correspondent Mark Thompson. "Milosevic need only look to the examples of Bosnian Serb leaders Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, who were indicted four years ago but have never been arrested, to see that he's not necessarily in great danger."

While NATO countries had supplied the court with evidence against Milosevic, it is an independent judicial body and some alliance members are plainly displeased at the indictment and its timing. "It does not serve peace," said France's Interior Minister Jean-Pierre Chevenement of the indictment, criticizing the court for having a "pseudo-moral vision instead of a political one." Russian mediator Viktor Chernomyrdin, due to fly to Belgrade Thursday, was similarly concerned that the indictment may complicate his peace mission. Other diplomats were more positive, suggesting that the indictment would serve as a warning that Milosevic should accept NATO's terms or else ultimately face a ground invasion. In other words, that Serb withdrawal from Kosovo could be Milosevic's plea bargain.

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