BELGRADE, Yugoslavia — A former Yugoslav army commander has been arrested by military police on suspicion of passing secret documents to a U.S. diplomat that could implicate Slobodan Milosevic at his war crimes trial, officials said Friday. The diplomat also was detained — and at one point reportedly was held with a bag over his head.
The U.S. Embassy lodged a protest, saying the diplomat was "arbitrarily arrested and held incommunicado for 15 hours." Declaring that the American was "physically assaulted," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the United States was "outraged."
"We are forcefully protesting these actions by the Yugoslav military to the Yugoslav civilian authorities," Boucher said. "In addition to our concerns about our diplomat, we're also concerned about this apparent move against an elected Serbian civilian official."
The Yugoslav military identified the diplomat — who was set free on Friday — as John David Neighbor.
Police from the military secret service also detained Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Momcilo Perisic, said Perisic's aide, Nebojsa Mandic.
Perisic's detention in a Belgrade restaurant appeared to catch government leaders by surprise and suggested Milosevic, Yugoslavia's former president, still wields influence among hard-line military commanders opposed to providing evidence to the U.N. war crimes tribunal.
Milosevic is on trial at The Hague for his alleged role in Yugoslav troops atrocities in Kosovo, Bosnia and Croatia during the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s.
A military statement said Perisic was detained on suspicion of "espionage."
A military source told The Associated Press that Perisic was apprehended while allegedly handing over secret army documents that "could link Milosevic with war crimes."
Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic said he saw Perisic briefly after detention and Perisic told him "he was set up" and was not passing any secret documents to the U.S. diplomat.
Djindjic blasted the arrests as "a first-rate scandal" and said the military secret service has "gone out of control."
The U.S. diplomat "was detained with a bag over his head, had no translator nor a lawyer," Djindjic said.
More military and police vehicles than usual were sighted on Belgrade streets after nightfall. Djindjic sought to lessen tensions, telling reporters: "I wouldn't describe this as an apparent coup attempt."
The Yugoslav Foreign Ministry said the developments "could seriously hamper relations between (our) two countries."
A joint statement by the Serbian and Yugoslav governments said: "The manner in which this case was handled casts doubt on whether the military and its security services are under civilian control."
A ranking Serbian government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Cabinet had convened an emergency session Friday, and Perisic's apartment and office had been searched by military agents.
He described the detention as a warning from "a clique of military hard-liners what will happen if we continue with our policy of cooperation with The Hague war crimes tribunal."
Milosevic was ousted and turned over to the U.N. war crimes tribunal in the Netherlands by the leadership of Serbia, the dominant Yugoslav republic. The same leadership remains under pressure from the West to hand over other politicians who have been indicted by the tribunal but faces opposition from hard-liners.
Perisic served as Yugoslavia's chief of staff during the wars in Croatia and Bosnia, but was sacked by Milosevic in 1998 on the eve of NATO bombardment of Yugoslavia for criticizing the Kosovo campaign against ethnic Albanian militants conducted by Milosevic.
Perisic commanded Yugoslav troops during the opening stages of wars in Croatia and Bosnia in the early 1990s. He was sentenced in a Croat court in absentia to 20 years in prison for ordering the shelling of the towns of Sibenik and Zadar.
Perisic was fired a few months before NATO's 78-day air attack against Yugoslavia. Before the strikes, Perisic had met top NATO commanders, including U.S. Gen. Wesley Clark. He had been criticized by Milosevic's hard-liners as "too pro-American."