Milosevic's transfer to UN war crimes tribunal a victory over impunity: Annan

Secretary-General Kofi Annan today welcomed the transfer of former President Slobodan Milosevic has been transferred to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, which is based at The Hague.

Mr. Annan called the event "a day few had imagined, but many had hoped for." In a statement released in New York, he expressed hope that today would bring to the victims of the Balkan wars of the past decade "some measure of comfort, some sense that even the most powerful leader can be brought to justice, and face the consequences of his actions."

"To the people of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, I hope this day will mark a true break with the past, and the beginning of a new spirit of coexistence throughout the former Yugoslavia," he said.

The indictment against Mr. Milosevic charges him and four others with crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war during a "systematic attack directed against the Kosovo Albanian civilian population of Kosovo in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY)."

Among other criminal acts committed under Mr. Milosevic's leadership, the forces of the FRY and Serbia "forcibly expelled and internally displaced hundreds of thousands of Kosovo Albanians from their homes across the entire province of Kosovo" by using threats and violence to create an atmosphere of fear and oppression, according to the indictment.