By Paul Beaver in London, Ed Vulliamy in

Washington, Chris Bird in Belgrade

Sunday November 29, 1998

President Clinton has given the go-ahead for a

secret bid to topple the regime of Slobodan

Milosevic and shatter what is left of federal

Yugoslavia.

Clinton's approval for a campaign to remove

President Milosevic came at the end of a week in

which the United States put a bounty of $5

million on the heads of his two puppets in

Bosnia, the indicted war criminals Radovan

Karadzic and General Ratko Mladic.

The push for active intervention against

Milosevic comes from several quarters,

including the White House, where the

destruction of Milosevic's regime has been

discussed by Clinton's national security team,

including the CIA and its opposite number in the

Pentagon, the Defence Intelligence Agency. One

former senior DIA official, who has been

involved in the Balkans for several years, told

The Observer that: "As of the past few days, the

activation of a policy of the end of Milosevic and

his power in Yugoslavia is very much on the

table."

Other sources talked about a "major review

meeting" in recent days to discuss a vigorous

new policy to hasten a conclusion to the

Yugoslav crisis, with "the end of Milosevic as

the obvious solution". One White House source

said: "Clinton is doing this right now, and it's

beginning at a local level."

The focus is now on helping Montenegrin efforts

to break away from Belgrade and on aiding the

Opposition within Serbia. Clinton is reported to

have asked a discussion group last week: "Would

an independent Kosovo work?" Support for such

a move would mark a dramatic about-turn, since

diplomatic efforts have centred on keeping

Milosevic in power and ignoring calls for

Kosovo's independence.

State Department officials told The Observer that

the prime mover of the new policy was the

President's special envoy to the region, Richard

Gelbardt, who is said to have privately argued

that the time has come for the US to help to get

rid of Milosevic.

The sacking by Milosevic last week of Yugoslav

army chief of staff Momcilo Perisic, part of the

inner sanctum of the President's security staff, is

said by State Department officials to be

connected to the fact that Perisic had told

Milosevic that he would play no part in any

police or military move against a Montenegrin

bid for independence. There is even a suggestion

that Perisic had discussed a possible

Montenegrin secession with US diplomats.

The CIA has installed newly invigorated

"analytical structures" in former and current

Yugoslav republics in recent weeks. Driving the

DIA's thinking is the fear that "continued power

for Milosevic means an interminable US

presence in the region". Observers in Belgrade

are waiting to see what Perisic and Milosevic's

former spy master, Jovica Stanisic - who was

also dismissed last month - will do next. Both

are seen as likely opponents of Milosevic with

real influence compared to Belgrade's weak and

disparate opposition politicians.

They are also close to Montenegrin leader Milo

Djukanovic,who is seen as pro-Western and a

possible contender to replace Milosevic.

Djukanovic, who runs Montenegro as his

personal fiefdom, has criticised Milosevic loudly

over Kosovo.

As a member of federal Yugoslavia's Supreme

Defence Council, he reportedly voted against

Perisic's dismissal. He has also allowed

newspapers closed down in Belgrade to print in

the regional capital, Podgorica.