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DETAINED US DIPLOMAT WAS CIA'S MAIN MAN IN THE BALKANS
Agence France Presse [ TUESDAY, MARCH 19, 2002 8:31:22 AM ] [Posted 19 March 2002]
Comments follow
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BELGRADE

A US diplomat arrested with Serbia's deputy prime minister last week accused of espionage was the head of the Central Intelligence Agency in the Balkans, a newspaper claimed in a report to appear on Tuesday.

"From the outset of his interrogation John David Neighbor presented himself as the head of the CIA in the Balkans," Vecernje Novosti reported, quoting military sources.

It added that the diplomat remained calm while undergoing a 13-hour interrogation.

Neighbor was identified by Belgrade as the US diplomat detained by Yugoslav military police late on Thursday along with Serbian deputy prime minister, Momcilo Perisic.

The United States said yesterday it had accepted an apology from Yugoslav Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic for the diplomat's mistreatment in Yugoslav military police custody. (2)

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Washington considered the case closed as a "bilateral issue" but denied reports that the detained diplomat had been involved in any kind of espionage.

"We have received a formal apology from (Svilanovic)," Boucher told reporters. "We've accepted that apology.... we view it as a public acknowledgment of the military's inappropriate and excessive actions and we now consider this closed as a bilateral issue". (1)

Earlier yesterday, Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica regretted that Neighbor had been detained for so long and identified by name and nationality. (3)

(C) AFP 2002 * Reprinted for Fair Use Only
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow.asp?art_id=4235518

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SOME COMMENTS
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1) Mr. Boucher complains about the "inappropriate and excessive actions" of the Yugoslav Army. Aside from the fact that he is lying - there was nothing excessive about Yugoslav Army actions under international law - Boucher's remarks exceed in hypocrisy even what he said when the Belarussian government seized some computers the US had 'donated' to pro-US NGOs. See 'Speechless in Belarus' at
http://emperors-clothes.com/news/ind.htm

"Inappropriate and excessive actions." Wasn't it the United States military that spearheaded the 2.5 month long bombardment of Yugoslavia about which the New York Times commented, with kindest restraint:

"A broad spectrum of legal scholars agree that there is currently no simple, straightforward or obvious legal basis for the bombing of Serbian targets to be found in treaties, the United Nations charter or binding resolutions or [in] any other written international code...."('A Word Bolsters Case for Allied Intervention, NY Times, April 4, 1999, International Section, p. 7)

2. To learn more about "Who is Goran Svilanovic,' go to http://emperors-clothes.com/news/goran.htm

3. In 'We Have the Right and Duty to Arrest Spies,' I commented
that "Yugoslav President Kostunica responded in his usual two-faced fashion, first criticizing and then seemingly defending the Army action, which enjoys overwhelming public support in Yugoslavia."
http://emperors-clothes.com/news/ya.htm

Now we see that, true to form:

"Earlier yesterday, Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica regretted that Neighbor had been detained for so long and identified by name and nationality."

Poor Mr. Kostunica. He wishes to distance himself from Serbian 'Prime Minister' Djindjic, a man universally loathed in Yugoslavia. He doesn't want to criticize the Army, which enjoys popular support. But he also knows who butters his bread (the US foreign policy establishment) and so he straddles a narrow fence, with apparent discomfort. He criticizes...not exactly the arrest of Neighbor, but rather the manner in which it was carried out. And not exactly that it was abusive. More that it was done in bad taste.

First Kostunica objects to Neighbor being interrogated for "so long." This raises the question: what is the acceptable length of time for questioning a regional chief of the CIA caught receiving stolen documents from a high government official? Would nine hours be OK? Six? Three?

As for identifying Neighbor "by name and nationality," why is this lacking social polish? Should the Yugoslavs instead have announced about this spy they'd arrested: "Name: withheld. Country: withheld. Job: CIA Chief of the Balkans"?

-- Jared Israel

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