Allies of President Slobodan Milosevic have reacted angrily to his indictment for war crimes, describing the move as monstrous and an abuse of power by the international war crimes tribunal, which was branded a US puppet.
But the head of the tribunal defended herself and was supported by President Clinton who said the case against Mr Milosevic, the only head of state to be indicted for war crimes, would not stop NATO's action.
The indictment, said President Clinton, would "reassure the victims of Belgrade's atrocities in Kosovo and it will deter future war crimes by establishing that those who give the orders will be held accountable . . . I call on all nations to support the tribunal's decision and to co-operate with its efforts to seek justice."
In Belgrade, Mr Ivica Dacic, a spokesman for Mr Milosevic's Socialist Party, said that Ms Louise Arbour, the chief prosecutor of the Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, should also be "put on the list of war criminals". The tribunal had no jurisdiction in Yugoslavia and, he said, "this is a clear misuse of the power of this court, which is in the interest of NATO criminals".
Mr Goran Matic, a minister without portfolio, said the indictment was "a propaganda trick which is aimed at postponing a political solution and diplomatic efforts".
In a formal response, the Yugoslav federal government described the indictment as "another attempt to mislead the world community in order to conceal who is really responsible for the genocide against the Yugoslav people". Ms Arbour was as "a puppet in the hands of the masters of war".
But Ms Arbour said the five-month investigation into Mr Milosevic was a race against time and the possible fall-out from international diplomacy.
"We were driven by a now or never sense of urgency, by an issue that is central to our work - ensuring that the justice agenda did not get completely by-passed by the peace process," she said.
She expressed confidence in her case against Mr Milosevic, the Yugoslav president, Mr Milan Milutinovic, the president of Serbia, Mr Nikola Sainovic, the deputy prime minister of Yugoslavia, Gen Dragoljub Ojdanic, and Mr Vlajko Stojiljkovic, the Serbian Interior Minister.
In Pristina, the capital of Kosovo, the mood was sombre as the reality of the indictment sank in. In essence, all hopes of a peace deal or diplomatic agreement are seen to have been dashed and signs of an all out ground war were evident as Yugoslav forces reinforced border positions.
"So now we know. There will be no agreement," said a 25-year-old engineering student. "The West will not sign an agreement with an indicted war criminal. We know that. So there will be a ground invasion."
Meanwhile, NATO's campaign has been strongly criticised by Mr Viktor Chernomyrdin, the Russian envoy to the Balkans, who also criticised the war crimes indictment, and by a former US president, Mr Jimmy Carter.
In an article in the Washington Post, Mr Chernomyrdin, due in Belgrade today, delivered a strong warning to NATO that "the world has never in this decade been so close as now to the brink of nuclear war". He warned that unless the NATO raids stopped soon, "I shall advise Russia's president to suspend Russian participation in the negotiating process."
In the New York Times Mr Carter asked: "Have we forgotten the path to peace?" He said NATO was attacking the entire nation of Yugoslavia, which he described as "counter-productive, and our destruction of civilian life there has now become senseless and excessively brutal".