THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS // The former chief of the Yugoslav army told a UN war crimes court today he regretted the horrors of the Balkan wars, but insisted he was wrongly indicted for the atrocities. In an opening defence statement, Momcilo Perisic said he bore no responsibility for Srebrenica, the 1995 massacre of thousands of Muslim men and boys, nor for the deadly siege of Sarajevo or other crimes carried out by Bosnian or Croatian Serbs. "Never before have a commander and chief of the general staff of one army been held criminally responsible for crimes committed by members of the forces of another state or entity," Mr Perisic said. His trial began yesterday. He is up on 13 charges of aiding and abetting crimes carried out by allied Serb forces in Bosnia. He faces a maximum life sentence if convicted. Prosecutors allege he provided crucial military aid to the rebels, including weapons, ammunition and communications equipment as well as troops and officers that enabled them to conduct lethal operations against the Muslims of Srebrenica and Sarajevo and to launch deadly rocket attacks on Zagreb. The prosecution says its case highlights close links between the Belgrade-based Yugoslav army and Bosnian Serb forces commanded by fugitive Gen Ratko Mladic during the 1992-95 Bosnian war. The last time the court dealt with a similar case was the trial of the former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, which was aborted without reaching a verdict when he died of a heart attack in his cell early in 2006. Mr Perisic is a former ally of Mr Milosevic who turned against the dictator after the Bosnian war and warned Mr Milosevic's regime against fomenting conflict in Kosovo. He said he was proud of the role he played in what he called the "multi-ethnic" Yugoslav army and appalled by the horrors of the Balkan wars. "I regret deeply that there were victims of crimes in the territory of the former Yugoslavia. I sympathise deeply with the families of the victims," he said. "Every life lost in war is an irreplaceable loss for society. But lives lost to crime are an even greater loss. I believe all those who committed crimes will face trial and will receive proper punishment and I hope war crimes will never happen again." However, he insisted the evidence and his defence team would prove his innocence. * AP
