President Clinton has urged President Putin of Russia to help put pressure on Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to stand down. Mr Milosevic is refusing to leave office after the Yugoslav opposition candidate, Vojislav Kostunica, beat him in the presidential election last month. But in a 35-minute phone call, Mr Clinton asked Mr Putin to persuade Mr Milosevic, a close ally of Russia, to respect the vote. His call came as the opposition, which is boycotting a second round in a week's time, prepared to hold a general strike tomorrow.
The UN human rights investigator for the former Yugoslavia said yesterday that President Milosevic had rejected a Russian offer to mediate in Yugoslavia's political crisis. The independent Beta news agency quoted Jiri Dienstbier at a news conference in Podgorica, the capital of the Republic of Montenegro. A Serbian opposition source in Belgrade also said that Mr Milosevic had refused the offer.
Russian officials in Moscow were not available to comment on the report. Beta did not make clear where Mr Dienstbier's information came from. Vladimir Putin said earlier that he was ready to send his foreign minister, Igor Ivanov, to Belgrade for consultations with both sides, but only if the Milosevic government accepted.
