[PEN-L:6190] (Fwd) YUGOSLAVIA SUES NATO IN WORLD COURT

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Date sent:              Thu, 29 Apr 1999 11:15:42 -0700
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From:                   Sid Shniad <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject:                YUGOSLAVIA SUES NATO IN WORLD COURT 

The Associated Press                                    Thursday, April 29, 1999

YUGOSLAVIA SUES NATO IN WORLD COURT 

        By Mike Corder

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) -- In an unprecedented legal 
maneuver aimed at stopping NATO airstrikes, Yugoslavia filed 
World Court cases against 10 alliance members today, claiming 
their bombing campaign breaches international law. 
        Yugoslavia also asked the 15-judge court, the United 
Nations' highest judicial body, to demand an immediate halt to 
NATO's campaign while the case is being considered -- a process 
that can take years. 
        An emergency hearing is likely to be scheduled early next 
week to discuss Belgrade's request. Judges were believed to be 
meeting today to discuss their initial reaction. 
        ''This morning, we filed proceedings against 10 NATO 
members,'' Sanja Milinkovic, legal counsel at the Yugoslav Embassy 
in The Hague, told The Associated Press. She declined further 
comment and would not say which countries were named. 
        An American Embassy official, speaking on condition of 
anonymity, confirmed that the United States was one of the 
countries named. 
        The court, which has no enforcement powers and relies on 
states to comply voluntarily with its rulings, declined to comment 
on the case. 
        A state has never before filed simultaneous cases against 10 
other countries at the World Court. 
        International law expert Terry Gill of Utrecht University in 
the central Netherlands dismissed Yugoslavia's application as a 
''public relations stunt'' designed to promote disagreement among 
NATO nations. 
        ''There is some doubt among NATO states about the legality 
of what they are doing, so something like this could cause 
embarrassment,'' Gill said. 
        Even if the court were to order a halt to airstrikes, 
Yugoslavia would have to seek a U.N. Security Council resolution 
ordering compliance if NATO refused to back down, Gill said. 
        NATO began airstrikes against Yugoslavia on March 24 in 
an effort to stop Belgrade's purge of ethnic Albanians from the 
southern province of Kosovo.