Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic has continued his verbal assault on the West, as he concludes his opening statement before the U.N. war crimes tribunal in the Hague.

Speaking for a third day, Mr. Milosevic told the U.N. court that the Balkan wars of the 1990s were fomented not by him, but by Western powers that he said were determined to break up Yugoslavia.

Last week Mr. Milosevic insisted that NATO should be on trial for what he said are its war crimes.

The former Yugoslav leader is defending himself against 66 charges, including crimes against humanity in Croatia and Kosovo, and genocide during the war in Bosnia. He faces life in prison, if convicted.

Later Monday the first of up to 300 witnesses for the prosecution will appear. They include survivors of the Balkan conflicts.

Prosecutors say more than one million people were imprisoned or forced from their homes during the conflicts in the Balkans and tens of thousands of others were either killed or injured.

Mr. Milosevic has challenged the impartiality of the Hague Tribunal and said he will call as witnesses former U.S. President Bill Clinton, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and other leaders.

Some information for this report provided by DPA, AP and AFP.

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