Milosevic Back On Television

These are strange times in Yugoslavia.

As the new president, Vojislav Kostunica, met with Pope John Paul II in Rome, the man Kostunica ousted, Slobodan Milosevic, prepared to go on national television.

At the same time, the Yugoslav army struggled to stop ethnic Albanian forces from infiltrating southern Serbia, from Kosovo.

Albanian forces - based in the Kosovo buffer zone which is under international control - have in recent weeks launched several attacks against Serbs. A Yugoslav army spokesman Tuesday reiterated the complaint that the international community has done too little to deter the ethnic Albanians in their attacks on Serbian targets.

The ethnic tensions in Kosovo are behind the war there and the war crimes indictment of ex-president Milosevic, who in his first interview since being ousted says his "conscience is clear."

Reuters Kostunica and Pope John Paul II discussed their shared desire for peace in the Balkans.

During the two-hour interview, the confident-looking Milosevic said he does not recognize the U.N. tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, which indicted him last year for war crimes in Kosovo.

He called the tribunal a "mechanism of genocide against the Serbian nation" and characterized his 13-year rule as a "ceaseless battle. I can even say freely a lion's struggle for the protection of state and national interests of our country."

Milosevic also said he was not afraid of a possible trial by Yugoslav courts for alleged offenses committed during four Balkan wars he is accused of triggering.

There have been calls for Milosevic's arrest, both here and abroad. But Milosevic and his closest associates have been buoyed by the Kostunica government's refusal to hand him over.

Yugoslavia's judiciary has so far not filed any charges against him despite widespread allegations of corruption, money-laundering, economic mismanagement, repression and suppression of independent media.

A Belgrade court Tuesday did indict six members of the electoral commissions responsible for determining the results of the last presidential election: commissions which were loathe to proclaim Kostunica the winner.

At a news conference in Brussels Tuesday, Deputy Prime Minister Miroljub Labus said Milosevic will eventually be brought to justice to face the war crimes allegations levied against him.

"Everybody has to be brought to justice for what he or she did in the past, that includes Mr. Milosevic," said Labus.

Reuters An ethnic Albanian guerrilla at a checkpoint near the Serbian border

Milosevic was ousted on Oct. 5 after he refused to accept an overwhelming defeat by Kostunica in September elections. Milosevic charged the elections were tainted by outside influences.

"The elections were held amid foreign pressure, under threats of invasion and sanctions and amid a media war," Milosevic said. Because of the "irregularities," the elections "could not reflect the will of the people," he added.

In the meantime, Milosevic - who retained the control over his once mighty Socialist Party - is preparing a political comeback in Dec. 23 parliamentary elections in Serbia, the dominant Yugoslav republic. If the troubled party makes it to the parliament, Milosevic could get parliamentary immunity, saving him from legal prosecution in Serbia.

Milosevic appears to be banking on the country's troubled economy to return him to power.

"I don't have to tell the citizens of this country how much the staples cost now, how high their salaries are. I don't have to explain to them what they already see in the shops, market places, in their apartments," Milosevic said.

"Simply, is there anyone who doesn't see how much worse it is now compared to the end of September?" Milosevic asked.

The only time Milosevic showed a hint of anger was when he was asked about his son Marko, widely accused by independent media and many Serbs for getting rich through crime and corruption. Marko Milosevic left the country soon after his father's ouster but was turned back at the airport in Beijing. He is believed to be in Russia.

Milosevic called allegations against his son "equal to crime," adding "I'm proud of my son Marko."

As for Kostunica, he's back in Belgrade, after a successful one-day trip to Italy in which he proclaimed relations between the two nations warm and intact, despite Italy having been the base for NATO's air strikes on Yugoslavia last year.

CBS Worldwide Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press and Reuters Limited contributed to this report