Yugoslav anti-riot police have cleared the area around the home of Slobodan Milosevic ahead of another attempt to arrest the former President. Speaking about the stand-off between the security forces and armed loyalists protecting Mr Milosevic, the Yugoslav President said that no-one is above the law. "For the state to survive no one can be untouchable. Whoever opens fire on the police must be punished, whoever is summoned before an investigative judge must respond, whoever breaks the law must suffer the consequences no matter what their rank, service or function," Vojislav Kostunica told the media. Mr Kostunica added that he did not want to see bloodshed.
It was expected that the former Yugoslav president will be arrested before the end of the day. Speaking to the Tanjug newsagency the Yugoslav Interior Minister said that police had been "tasked with" the arrest during the day. Zoran Zivkovic said that Mr Milosevic's arrest is a certainty especially now that "additional criminal deeds have been committed afterwards, notably shooting at the police officers". Mr Zivkovic confirmed that Milosevic will be charged with abuse of power as well as "other criminal deeds involving an estimated one billion dinars ($16m) and 200m German marks."
Yugoslav security forces laid siege to the Belgrade home of the former President, who is refusing to give himself up to the authorities. The Yugoslav Army Chief said that President Kostunica had ordered army units to leave the compound. A Serbian Government Minister has accused the army of obstructing the police and warned that force would again be used if negotiations failed. The Army has denied trying to block the arrest. The Serbian Prime Minister, Zoran Djindjic said that his government had intelligence reports that there were large amounts of explosives and weapons inside Mr Milosevic's home. In a stern warning he said that Milosevic is not above the law. "Some people think they are above the law, as they have been in the past 10 years, and that they have the right to make their own state and own armed forces," he said.
Police were reported to have been preparing for a second attempt to arrest Mr Milosevic after a night of violence and confusion around his Belgrade residence. By dawn, riot police had pushed all civilians, including an angry crowd of Milosevic supporters, back from the entrance of his house. An AFP reporter at the scene of the siege reported that the first shots had come from inside the residence where Milosevic supporters are thought to be holding out. There were reports of further shots in the area tonight.
A Serbian Government Minister has said that Mr Milosevic will be arrested on criminal charges and not for war crimes. The country's Interior Minister, Dusan Mihajlovic, said that Mr Milosevic would remain under house arrest until he was brought to justice. Yugoslav special forces stormed into the grounds of Milosevic's home after a night of conflicting reports about whether the former President had been arrested. Several hours later, a senior Government minister said judicial proceedings had begun. Mr Milosevic then made a brief appearance before a crowd of supporters at the gates of his residence. A short while later shooting broke out. Also indicted by the UN War Crimes Tribunal Milosevic has vowed that he would "not go to prison alive".
Yugoslavia is under pressure to show that it is co-operating with the UN Tribunal. A US deadline for President George W Bush to declare Yugoslav co-operation expires shortly. US officials are currently monitoring the situation in Yugoslavia and have said that they will not make a decision until they have all the facts. Last night a different official said that the United States were told that Milosevic had been put under house arrest at his home. If the US announcement goes against Yugoslavia they face economic sanctions and a withholding of US aid.
