Liberation of Kosovo: War Crimes - US puts $5m price on head of Milosevic head

AMERICA YESTERDAY put a price on Slobodan Milosevic's head, offering up to $5m (about pounds 8m) for information leading to his arrest. Washington is racking up the pressure on the Yugoslav President as K-For troops consolidate their hold on Kosovo, and investigators move in to examine the evidence of mass killings.

"The United States is offering a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction in any country of persons indicted for serious violations of international humanitarian law by the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia or for information leading to their transfer to or conviction by the tribunal," said a State Department spokesman.

There are indictments outstanding against President Milosevic and four other military and civilian officials for war crimes in Kosovo, and several for war crimes in Bosnia.

Investigators from the FBI were yesterday examining a site in Djakovica where Kosovo Albanians were said to have been murdered. It is one of the sites named in the indictment of Mr Milosevic. "Djakovica is emblematic of the thorough but selective destruction of the Kosovar Albanian communities in Kosovo," said David Scheffer, the US ambassador-at-large for war crime issues.

Nato leaders received a jubilant reception as they toured Pristina, the capital of Kosovo yesterday. Hundreds of people chanted "Nato, Nato, Nato," as Javier Solana, the Secretary-General, and General Wesley Clark, the Supreme Allied Commander, arrived. Gen Clark said that the evidence of war crimes justified Nato's bombing campaign, despite the civilian casualties and errors.

But Nato is still picking up the pieces from the errors. Further details have emerged of America's bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, in the mistaken belief that it was a Yugoslav government facility. Three people were killed in the attack. The CIA picked up the address of the ministry building from the Internet. This was then located on the map. A middle-ranking intelligence official pointed out that they might have the wrong building, but everyone seems to have ignored him, the Washington Post reported yesterday.