Milosevic Declares Success

In an apparent effort to counter growing U.S. support for his foes, President Slobodan Milosevic on Thursday declared success in rebuilding the country after NATO bombing and praised resistance to "new colonialism."

Since the end of the bombing in June, the government has managed to rebuild several bridges on the main highway leading south of Belgrade and put up a temporary bridge on the Danube in the city of Novi Sad, where NATO destroyed three bridges. Milosevic also has recently reopened an oil refinery.

But Serbia still faces oil shortages and the power grid, severely damaged during the bombing, is far from repaired, raising fears for a tough winter.

Speaking at an award ceremony for officials and companies that took part in reconstruction after the bombing, Milosevic claimed that "all citizens" are united.

"Small exceptions are so small they are not worth mentioning," he said, alluding to pro-democracy leaders who won a pledge Wednesday from the United States that it would lift a ban on oil sales and flights to Serbia if free and fair elections are held.

The opposition leaders have been demanding early elections, hoping they would unseat Milosevic, whose popularity has plummeted over the NATO bombing, which resulted in billions of dollars in damage and the de facto loss of Kosovo, a province of Serbia, the dominant Yugoslav republic.

In the past several months Serbia's opposition has intensified its contacts with Western governments in an effort to boost the pro-democracy movement.

The opposition has demanded a suspension of international sanctions, arguing the isolation of Serbia only aids Milosevic, who has been indicted by the U.N. war crimes tribunal for atrocities committed during the Kosovo crackdown.

European governments already have decided to provide about $5 million worth of energy to two cities in Serbia that are governed by opponents of Milosevic.

Milosevic's aides and media were swift Thursday to blast the U.S. initiative. A Milosevic spokesman called it "tragi-comical," and the official Tanjug news agency branded it "blackmail" and interference in Yugoslavia's internal affairs.

Anti-Western, and particularly anti-American, sentiment in Serbia is still strong, months after the 78-day NATO air campaign that ended Milosevic's crackdown against the ethnic Albanian rebellion in Kosovo and forced his troops out of the province.

Milosevic has been trying to persuade the Serbs they have won the war against NATO by the simple fact that they managed to resist for 78 days.