US Secretary of State Mr Colin Powell has determined that Belgrade is eligible for tens of millions of dollars in much-needed US aid, following the weekend arrest of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic, a senior State Department official said today.
However, Mr Powell has qualified his decision by saying that unless Belgrade continues its cooperation with a UN war crimes tribunal, Washington will not help convene a donor's conference for Yugoslavia, the official said.
"The secretary has decided to certify continuation of our aid program with a qualification that we wouldn't expect to help convene a donors' conference this summer without continued progress, especially with regard to the tribunal," the official said.
"We have seen them take steps to begin to cooperate, but would we look for those steps to be continued," he said.
"Clearly, the Milosevic arrest over the weekend and the strong stance taken for the rule of law shows some progress," the official said.
The official noted that Belgrade had begun to work with the tribunal to draft a new law that could allow for Milosevic's extradition to The Hague and had assisted in the recent handing over of two other, lower-level, indictees.
Mr Milosevic is being held under a 30-day detention order facing charges of corruption and abuse of power. He denies the charges.
His lawyer said today he had appealed, without much hope of success, the detention order.
AFP