THE NETHERLANDS: Kosovo's president, Mr Ibrahim Rugova, clashed with his nemesis, Mr Slobodan Milosevic, at the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague yesterday, accusing the former Yugoslav president of massacres against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.
But in cross-examination, Mr Milosevic labelled Mr Rugova - who led the non-violent movement for Kosovo's independence from Serbia since 1989 - of being a pawn of the "great powers" trying to implement their own agenda.
"The great powers and the international community came out in our defence, for human rights and against the massacres perpetrated by Belgrade and by you," Mr Rugova retorted.
The tense exchange was the only time Mr Rugova addressed the former Yugoslav president directly. During the half hour of questions before the court adjourned for lunch, Kosovo's president did not once look at Mr Milosevic, referring to him only in the third person.
The exchange was marked mostly by the two doggedly repeating their completely opposite opinions.
Mr Milosevic asked several times, quoting newspapers and books, if Mr Rugova believed the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) was a terrorist organisation.
"That's newspaper stuff," Mr Rugova said dismissing the question.
"The KLA was an organisation that responded to repression and violence for the purpose of winning freedom for the people."
Earlier in yesterday's hearing, Mr Rugova told the court how the province's ethnic Albanians suffered under the former Yugoslav president. Mr Rugova, dressed in a black suit with a red sweater, quietly explained how his party, the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) was founded.
"We were striving to build an independent Kosovo with rights for all people," he said, summarising the LDK's aims.
He also told the court how the Serb assembly revoked the autonomous status of Kosovo in 1989 and how the province was put under Belgrade's direct rule.
As with other witnesses, the prosecution also focussed on the years of discrimination against Kosovo's ethnic Albanians in the period leading up to the 1998-1999 violent Serb crackdown on Kosovo Albanians.
The moderate Kosovo Albanian leader spoke of many meetings with the Serb authorities leading up to the conflict in which he said many promises were made for improvement but without any materialising.
During the full-blown war between the Yugoslav troops and the KLA, Mr Rugova was a member of Kosovo's ethnic Albanian delegation in the Rambouillet peace talks held in the beginning of 1999.
He told the court he felt the Serbian delegation wasn't serious in its efforts to reach an agreement.
Also yesterday, Mr Milosevic's right hand man during the Serb crackdown in Kosovo pleaded not guilty at the tribunal to charges of participating in the alleged 1999 terror campaign against ethnic Albanians.
The former Yugoslav deputy premier, Mr Nikola Sainovic, indicted along with the ousted Yugoslav president for mass killings and expulsions of Kosovo Albanians, is the second member of Mr Milosevic's inner circle to surrender to the court in a week.
Mr Sainovic, dressed in suit and tie, pleaded not guilty to each of five counts of violations of the laws and customs of war and crimes against humanity as they were read out to him by a court official during a brief first appearance in the court.