Former Yugoslav army general surrenders

A former Yugoslav army general charged with destroying much of the ancient port town of Dubrovnik during the Croatian war today boarded a flight to The Netherlands to answer to the UN war crimes court.

Retired General Pavle Strugar, 68, and three other former Yugoslav army and naval officers are charged with suspected murder, plunder and the destruction of nearly 70% of Dubrovnik in an attempt to incorporate the 17th century town into Serbia, the dominant Yugoslav republic.

The artillery siege began after Croatia declared its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, setting off a decade of wars in the Balkans.

Strugar, who would be the first Yugoslav citizen to voluntarily surrender to the Netherlands-based court, left for The Hague from the Montenegrin capital of Podgorica.

Before departure, Strugar’s lawyer Goran Rodic, said that the general, ‘‘wants to go to prove his innocence in front of the tribunal.’’

Strugar, who has kidney problems and is in general ill health, boarded an aircraft of the private Pelikan Blue Airlines. Rodic said that he would be received on landing by Dutch doctors.

He said that Strugar’s first tribunal session will depend on his health, but if possible, ‘‘his first appearance is expected in seven to 10 days.’’

Strugar’s surrender comes a day before the scheduled visit of The Hague chief prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte to Yugoslavia.

Del Ponte is expected to arrive to the capital Belgrade tomorrow and travel to Podgorica on Tuesday. She is likely to demand that the authorities extradite the other suspects.

Strugar, 68, said earlier this month that he was ready to surrender. He was later treated for kidney problems and has so far spent 20 days in the hospital in Podgorica.

The Montenegrin government has said it would ask the court to allow Strugar to defend himself from freedom because of his ill health.

Admirals Miodrag Jokic, 66, and Milan Zec, 58, and Captain Vladimir Kovacevic, 40, were named by the court as the other suspects along with Strugar. They are believed to be hiding in Serbia.

Strugar recently moved to Podgorica, the capital of the smaller Yugoslav republic of Montenegro, from Belgrade, where he lived since retiring from the Yugoslav army in August 1993.

During the siege that lasted until early December 1991, at least 43 civilians were killed and 563 buildings destroyed or damaged in the Old Town, formerly a UN World Heritage Site, the indictment said.