DATE=03/24/02

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=YUGO-NATO ANNIVERSARY (L-O)

NUMBER=2-287937

BYLINE=STEFAN BOS

DATELINE=BUDAPEST

INTERNET=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Thousands of supporters of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic rallied in Belgrade Sunday, to mark the third anniversary of the start of NATO's air war against Yugoslavia. But as Stephan Bos reports, Yugoslavia's current President Vojislav Kostunica, speaking at a church service, blamed both his predecessor and NATO for conflict.

TEXT: Carrying Serbian flags and chanting "NATO are murders," about ten thousand demonstrators marched through the streets of Belgrade to mark the beginning of 78 days of NATO bombardments.

On March 24th, 1999, NATO launched its air campaign to force Slobodon Milosevic to end his military crackdown against the ethnic Albanian majority in Kosovo province.

/// OPT /// Mr. Milosevic was eventually forced to pull back his troops, who are believed to have killed at least 10-thousand ethnic Albanians. An additional 3,000 people are reportedly still missing.

The former Yugoslav strongman, who is on trial for genocide and other atrocities at the United Nations War Crimes Tribunal in The Haque, has denied the accusations. /// END OPT ///

Speaking at the rally in Belgrade, the leader of Mr. Milosevic's Socialist Party, Zoran Andjelkovic, urged the crowd never to forget the day when he said "aggression" against Yugoslavia began.

Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica, Sunday attended a church service honoring the estimated three-thousand Serbian soldiers, police officers and civilians killed during the NATO bombing. He suggested that Mr. Milosevic and NATO were in his words, "both to blame," for the devastating air war. Mr. Kostunica said it was impossible to absolve the Yugoslav authorities from responsibility. He added they "could and should have avoided the conflict" with what he called "the most powerful military alliance in history."

However the president also said it must not be forgotten whom as he put it "was pulling the trigger from the safe distance of ten kilometers above the ground." While he acknowledged cooperation with NATO, Mr. Kostunica also reiterated that he would not hand over any Serb war crimes suspects to the U-N Tribunal, unless Yugoslav lawmakers pass a law allowing it.

Meanwhile, the recently-elected President of Kosovo, Ibrahim Rugova, celebrated the third anniversary of NATO's air campaign as "the first day of freedom" for his province and its nearly two million ethnic Albanians.

But Yugoslav President Kostunica expressed sadness for what he called the suffering of Kosovo's Serb minority, both the estimated 200-thousand who fled the province after the NATO victory and those who became targets of revenge-seeking ethnic Albanians. (SIGNED)

NEB/SB/FC