Clark testifies at Milosevic’s war crimes trial

Former NATO commander and Democratic presidential hopeful Wesley Clark began his testimony behind closed doors at Slobodan Milosevic’s trial at The Hague war crimes tribunal on Monday, the court said.

Clark, who directed NATO’s 11-week bombing campaign against Serbia in 1999 during Belgrade’s crackdown on Kosovo Albanian separatists, is one of the most high-profile figures to be called to testify at the trial of the former Yugoslav president.

The retired four-star general, who was part of the U.S. team which helped to negotiate the 1995 peace agreement ending the Bosnian war, will testify behind closed doors on Monday and Tuesday. His evidence is to be made public later this week.

Washington secured the right to ask the U.N. court to edit the recording and transcript of Clark’s testimony in the interests of U.S. national security before it is made public on Friday.

“He’s in court and he’s testifying,” tribunal spokesman Jim Landale said. Milosevic has been on trial since February 2002 charged with ethnic cleansing in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo in the 1990s. He is defending himself against charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Clark, a Vietnam war veteran bidding to win the Democratic nomination to take on President George W. Bush in the 2004 White House race, spoke to Milosevic for more than 100 hours over a period of almost four years in the 1990s during former President Bill Clinton’s time in office.