Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic again has challenged the Hague tribunal as he cross-examined prosecution witnesses at his war crimes trial.

The former Yugoslav leader accused the U.N. court of failing to grant him adequate resources for his defense. He said the telephone provided him at the tribunal detention center is broken and demanded his release from prison so he could freely conduct his defense. The chief judge, Richard May, told Mr. Milosevic the court will address his complaints at an appropriate time.

Earlier, Mr. Milosevic challenged the testimony of an ethnic Albanian physician, Agron Berisha, who had described a rampage by Serbian troops through the southern Kosovo town of Suva Reka in which up to 50 civilians could have been killed. Mr. Milosevic accused the doctor of basing his testimony on assumptions, not facts. The witness replied that he had seen all of the cruelty with his own eyes.

Another witness, an ethnic Albanian widow, Ajmane Behrami, told the court how Serbian forces shelled her western Kosovo village of Izbica, separated the men from women and children then ordered the latter to walk to Albania. The Serbian forces set the village on fire and shelled the column of women and children.

Mr. Milosevic faces 66 charges of war crimes and genocide during the conflicts in Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo.

The former president has challenged the legitimacy of the U.N. court at the Hague and is conducting his own defense.

Some information for this report provided by AP and AFP.

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