------- Forwarded Message Follows ------- Date sent: Thu, 29 Apr 1999 11:15:42 -0700 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 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.
[PEN-L:6190] (Fwd) YUGOSLAVIA SUES NATO IN WORLD COURT
ts99u-1.cc.umanitoba.ca [130.179.154.224] Thu, 29 Apr 1999 17:38:31 -0500