Milosevic makes brief appearance at UN tribunal

The United Nations War Crimes Tribunal has rejected an application for the identities of witnesses due to testify against Slobodan Milosevic to be withheld from the former Yugoslav President.

Prosecutors claimed Milosevic should not have the right to know the witnesses’ names because he has refused to recognise the authority of the tribunal.

The UN prosecution team also fears that Milosevic’s supporters could attempt to intimidate the witnesses ahead of the trial.

However, Judge Patrick Robinson, one of a team of international judges overseeing the tribunal, described the request as "wholly inappropriate" because it would jeopardise the preparation of Milosevic’s defence.

"We have to make sure he gets a fair trial. That is out fundamental obligation," Judge Robinson said.

Milosevic made a brief appearance before the tribunal this morning, his fifth since he was extradited by Yugoslavia’s new leaders after being arrested at his home in the Serbian capital, Belgrade, last June.

The former Yugoslav dictator is due to go on trial on February 12th charged with five counts of war crimes in relation to Serbia’s crackdown on an ethnic Albanian insurgency in Kosovo in 1998 and 1999.

Milosevic has refused to recognise the authority of the War Crimes Tribunal because it was not established by the UN general assembly and has consistently claimed that he is the victim of a conspiracy by the West.