Yugoslavia was without a voice at the United Nations on Thursday, ostracized by the world community for waging war on former republics of the shattered Balkan federation.
The flagpole that bore its banner for decades was the only one bare among 179 arrayed outside U.N. Headquarters Thursday morning.By noon, guards finally ran the flag up the pole. General Assembly spokesman Alexander Taukatch said it had been delayed by a "technical misunderstanding" but refused to elaborate.
The General Assembly voted 127-6 late Tuesday to bar Yugoslavia - now comprising only Serbia and Montenegro - from voting or speaking in its chambers or committees.
Five African nations and Yugoslavia voted against what amounted to the most severe diplomatic sanctions ever imposed on a U.N. member.
The Serb-led Belgrade government is left in near total international isolation, its economy already being strangled by a U.N.-imposed trade embargo.
The United Nations has been stepping up pressure on Yugoslavia after determining that Serbs were mostly to blame for the 15-month-old conflict in Croatia and Bosnia, which has left more than 20,000 dead by conservative count.
It was not immediately clear, however, whether Yugoslavia has been fully stripped of U.N. membership.