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Putin mediation offer on Yugoslavia spurned
Russia`s offer to mediate in Yugoslavia`s stand-off has drawn an implicit rebuff from both sides, and the Belgrade Opposition vowed to step up a general strike on Tuesday to force President Slobodan Milosevic to quit.
Russia's offer to mediate in Yugoslavia's stand-off has drawn an implicit rebuff from both sides, and the Belgrade Opposition vowed to step up a general strike on Tuesday to force President Slobodan Milosevic to quit.
Milosevic voiced defiance in a rare address to the nation on Monday, making clear he would not concede defeat and wanted a second round of voting after last month's presidential poll.
He also pointedly failed to mention Moscow's offer to host mediation talks.
The Opposition's Vojislav Kostunica, who claimed outright victory in the September 24 presidential poll, likewise would not be drawn on whether he would take up Russian President Vladimir Putin's invitation and accused Moscow of sitting on the fence. ''The Russian policy has so far been indecisive and reluctant, I would say unnecessarily so. It could be described as taking one step forward and one step back,'' Kostunica said.
Putin's statement implied the need for a runoff vote, which Belgrade's Federal Election Commission has set for this Sunday. But Kostunica insists, along with western countries, that there is no need for it as he won well over 50 percent of the vote.
In a sign of divisions among Milosevic's normally fiercely loyal supporters, Serbia's government-controlled trade union on Monday threatened to call a general strike if the election results were not re-examined within two days, the independent Beta news agency said.
At the launch of the Opposition's nationwide civil disobedience campaign yesterday, protesters blocked roads, miners staged strikes and children skipped school across Serbia, the main republic in Yugoslavia, which also comprises of Montenegro.
Signs of dissent have also reached Yugoslavia's tightly controlled state media. More than 60 journalists at Tanjug news agency urged their management to ''respect the principles of full, objective and truthful informing,'' Beta said.
Milosevic lashed out at opponents in his televised address in a way his foes said smacked of desperation. He accused them of trying to grab power through blackmail, intimidation and violence, and implied they would yield Yugoslavia to foreign control.
''I believe I have a duty to caution the citizens of our country of the consequences of activities financed and supported by the governments of the NATO countries,'' he said.
''By yielding their country to others, to a foreign will, they are also yielding their own lives and the lives of their children and many other people to a foreign will.''
Milosevic voiced defiance in a rare address to the nation on Monday, making clear he would not concede defeat and wanted a second round of voting after last month's presidential poll.
He also pointedly failed to mention Moscow's offer to host mediation talks.
The Opposition's Vojislav Kostunica, who claimed outright victory in the September 24 presidential poll, likewise would not be drawn on whether he would take up Russian President Vladimir Putin's invitation and accused Moscow of sitting on the fence. ''The Russian policy has so far been indecisive and reluctant, I would say unnecessarily so. It could be described as taking one step forward and one step back,'' Kostunica said.
Putin's statement implied the need for a runoff vote, which Belgrade's Federal Election Commission has set for this Sunday. But Kostunica insists, along with western countries, that there is no need for it as he won well over 50 percent of the vote.
In a sign of divisions among Milosevic's normally fiercely loyal supporters, Serbia's government-controlled trade union on Monday threatened to call a general strike if the election results were not re-examined within two days, the independent Beta news agency said.
At the launch of the Opposition's nationwide civil disobedience campaign yesterday, protesters blocked roads, miners staged strikes and children skipped school across Serbia, the main republic in Yugoslavia, which also comprises of Montenegro.
Signs of dissent have also reached Yugoslavia's tightly controlled state media. More than 60 journalists at Tanjug news agency urged their management to ''respect the principles of full, objective and truthful informing,'' Beta said.
Milosevic lashed out at opponents in his televised address in a way his foes said smacked of desperation. He accused them of trying to grab power through blackmail, intimidation and violence, and implied they would yield Yugoslavia to foreign control.
''I believe I have a duty to caution the citizens of our country of the consequences of activities financed and supported by the governments of the NATO countries,'' he said.
''By yielding their country to others, to a foreign will, they are also yielding their own lives and the lives of their children and many other people to a foreign will.''
Bureau Report