U.N. seeks remedy for trial of Milosevic

THE HAGUE, Netherlands - Slobodan Milosevic spent a fourth birthday in U.N. custody Friday, his war crimes trial at a standstill because of his fragile health and his judges facing a dilemma on how to get going again.

Should they allow the 63-year-old former Yugoslav president to continue defending himself, despite months of delays? Or should they impose a defense lawyer against his will?

And should the case be broken into three parts - for the wars in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo - to increase the chance of reaching a verdict on at least some of the charges?

The rulings, possibly coming later this month, not only mark a crucial juncture in the Milosevic case, but could set a precedent for other international trials, such as former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's, experts say.

After 21/2 years and 296 witnesses, Milosevic's trial hasn't even reached the halfway mark. It has been six months since the court dealt with the substance of the case - 66 counts of war crimes charging Milosevic with responsibility for abuses during the three Balkan wars that killed hundreds of thousands in the 1990s during the breakup of the Yugoslav federation.

While Milosevic is not charged with ordering specific atrocities, U.N. indictments allege his policy of trying to create a "greater Serbia" by driving out non-Serbs led to such incidents as the slaughter of 7,500 Bosnian Muslim males at Srebrenica over a July week in 1995.

The prosecution ended its case in February, but since then the tribunal has held only a few hearings - all to review Milosevic's problems with high blood pressure and stress on his heart. The start of his defense case has been postponed five times, and is now tentatively set for Aug. 31.

Milosevic's brother, Borislav, told a Serbian newspaper last week that his brother was feeling better and hoped the trial resumes as planned.

Milosevic, the first head of state to stand trial for war crimes, will be followed by Hussein, who could cite the precedents of The Hague. Like Milosevic, Hussein would likely try to turn his trial into a political grandstand.

JERUSALEM - A Supreme Court order and a rare admonition from the attorney general increased pressure on Israel to reassess its West Bank security barrier.

Attorney General Meni Mazuz warned that the International Court of Justice's July ruling at The Hague, Netherlands, urging Israel to tear down the barrier could lead to sanctions against the Jewish state.

Mazuz's warning - an unusual acknowledgment that the country could be punished because of its policies toward the Palestinians - coincided with a Supreme Court order giving the government 30 days to produce a statement about how the world court's decision would affect the barrier's construction.

SOUTH OSSETIA: Hoping to end persistent skirmishing, peacekeepers moved into areas near South Ossetia's capital to separate Georgian troops and fighters from the breakaway region. Aslan Elbakiyev, a spokesman for South Ossetia's separatist government, said there were no reports of fighting Friday in the Georgian region, where nearly a week of nightly mortar and gunfire had threatened to spiral into all-out war.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Less than a week after his inauguration, President Leonel Fernandez has given top posts to four former officials charged with involvement in the disappearance of millions of dollars in public funds in the late 1990s. Critics say the appointments contradict campaign promises to crack down on corruption as the Dominican Republic weathers its worst economic crisis in decades. The Fernandez administration has defended the officials, saying the allegations were politically motivated.

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