'Western threat' spurs Yugoslav anti-terrorist groups

Yugoslavian authorities have arrested groups of British and Dutch men

In this story: Dutchmen 'confess' to kidnap plan NATO 'creating fear' RELATED STORIES, SITES

By Alessio Vinci, CNN Belgrade bureau chief

BELGRADE (CNN) -- Serbia has stepped up its campaign against what it alleges is western-sponsored terrorism.

Special anti-terrorist units have been training hard to protect the country against what Yugoslav officials say are "higher than ever" threats of terrorist attack, particularly from the U.S..

Authorities have recently arrested groups of Dutch and British men whom they say were breaching Yugoslav territory with the intent to kidnap and kill key Yugoslav figures including President Slobodan Milosevic.

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Goran Matic, Federal Minister of Information, said: "Since October 1999 the American administration added to its activities towards Yugoslavia the organisation of subversive terrorism, with the aim to overthrow the government by force, since political pressure gave no results."

The biggest threat, officials say, comes from special units trained in the west which enter Yugoslavia illegally, with the aim of killing or kidnapping government officials.

Dutchmen 'confess' to kidnap plan

Belgrade has stepped up its security despite the absence of firm evidence to back up such allegations -- coupled with denials from the U.S..

It comes at a time when Milosevic is seeking re-election, although Yugoslav officials deny any connection.

Among the several westerners who have recently been arrested are four Dutchmen, accused of being intelligence agents.

Yugoslav edited film provided by Matic seems to show them confessing to plans to capture people indicted by the U.N. war crimes tribunal, including Milosevic.

The film shows arrested Dutchmen Jeroen Van Iersel, as saying: "We had plan to kidnap and to kill the president and then to decapitate his head, put it in a box and send it home."

Also accused of attempted terrorism are two British policemen and two Canadians working in Kosovo. They were arrested earlier this month in Montenegro after a Yugoslav army patrol said it found explosives related materials in their car.

A preliminary investigation said the devices found in the car could not cause any damage as there was no explosive.

NATO 'creating fear'

But Matic says new evidence will be made public soon to back the prosecution's case.

He denied accusations that the recent arrests were aimed at gathering public support ahead of September's elections.

"This has nothing to do with electoral campaign," he said.

"We do not want to create terrorism and the concept of fear. NATO is the one who is creating fear in our country, using terrorism to de-stabilise and demoralise our people."

But analysts question the existence of any serious threat of terrorist attack against the country's well-protected leadership.

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