Milosevic's fate could be sealed by letter

Prosecutors have introduced a key piece of evidence at Slobodan Milosevic's war crimes trial - a letter that implies he had power over rebel Serb troops responsible for atrocities in Croatia.

If authentic, the document contradicts one of Milosevic's key defence assertions that as president of Serbia during the 1991-1995 Croatian war, he had no real control over the Serb-dominated Federal Yugoslav army, or Serbs forces outside his territory.

The letter, dated June 9 1993, asks Milosevic to "put pressure" on the Yugoslav Army to supply equipment and men to assist Serb rebels fighting in Croatia. It was signed by the then political head of the breakaway Serb-held Krajina region, Milan Martic.