Milosevic Arrested

By Stephen M. Silverman

09/08/1997 at 12:00 AM EDT

Former Yugoslavian President and convicted war criminal Slobodan Milosevic, held responsible for orchestrating a decade of Balkan wars, was taken to Belgrade's Central Prison on Sunday after a 26-hour armed standoff with police, who arrested him to face corruption charges stemming from his ruinous rule. Milosevic's arrest followed threats by the United States to suspend $50 million in economic aid if President Vojislav Kostunica's government did not show willingness by midnight Saturday to cooperate with the United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands. The tribunal had indicted Milosevic for war crimes and crimes against humanity in connection with atro cities committed during his harsh crackdown on ethnic Albanians.