Police, Milosevic in Stand-off Outside Belgrade
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Efforts by Yugoslav forces to arrest former President Slobodan Milosevic remain fluid at this hour. Attempts to take Milosevic into custody are climaxing on a day when the U.S. is threatening to deny monetary aid to Yugoslavia unless the country cooperates with the International War Crimes Tribunal at The Hague. However, today's action is for alleged corruption, not war crimes, and CNN's Walter Rodgers is monitoring the tense situation at Milosevic's villa in Belgrade. Walter, what's the latest?</s>WALTER RODGERS. CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Kyra. I was up at Mr. Milosevic's villa just a few minutes ago, and I saw the Ministry of Interior police moving in, reinforcing their own positions there because we have very large crowds, several hundred pro-Milosevic supporters, many of them rallying outside the Milosevic villa. The government here says it does have contact with those inside the Milosevic villa. That would either be the former Yugoslav president or the 20 or so bodyguards who are in there protecting him. And one official here, the prime minister. said that he thinks a negotiated settlement can still be reached, and a positive settlement to this stand-off can result, although last night things got off to a pretty rough start.</s>RODGERS (voice-over): In the stand-off outside Slobodon Milosevic's villa last night, the former Yugoslav president made it clear he is prepared to die rather than go to prison. Those were his words to the police. Ministry of Interior police went to his house in suburban Belgrade at 3:40 in the morning. They were greeted by a hail of bullets from Milosevic's villa, coming from inside the house. These same Ministry of Information officials said their men did not fire back in this fight. The Yugoslav government said it is determined to arrest Milosevic, but only when it is sure it can do so without bloodshed. It's believe Mirjana Milosevic, the former president's wife, is also in that house with him. There may also be upwards of 18 to 20 armed bodyguards there as well, including loyalists from the Army, according to the minister of information, Dusan Mihajlovic. He held a news conference announcing the arrest warrant for the former Yugoslav president, but Mihajlovic also made it clear Milosevic is to be tried for crimes like abuse of power and corruption in Yugoslavia. There will be no extradition, he said, of Milosevic to the Hague. The United States and allies wanted Milosevic to be tried for war crimes during the conflict in Kosovo. Politically, there is almost no support in Yugoslavia to send Milosevic away to be tried elsewhere in Europe and thus, perhaps, turn him into a martyr.</s>RODGERS: A short while ago, the prime minister here, Zoran Djindjic, made an open appeal to the Congress of the United States, saying essentially that the Yugoslav government has indeed made a good faith effort to bring Mr. Milosevic to trial, and he now would like very much for the Congress to release the remaining $50 million that had been promised the Yugoslav government if indeed they made an effort to bring Mr. Milosevic to some panel of justice -- Kyra.</s>PHILLIPS: Walter Rodgers, thank you very much.