THOUGH wrecking the Yugoslav economy and bringing hardship - and even death - to its people, NATO's bombs and missiles have been aimed politically at Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic to make him back down in Kosovo. But five weeks of air strikes have still not delivered that result and, meantime, the atrocities go on.

Yet, is there a chink of hope for a peace deal to be glimpsed in the ousting last night by Milosevic of his deputy, Vuk Draskovic - even though it was because he called on the Serb leader to agree to NATO's demands for a peace-keeping force in Kosovo?

This may demonstrate in the most forthright way that Milosevic is not yet ready for compromise and that, despite the bombing and the hardship his people are enduring, he still feels politically secure.

But it indicates, too, that there may be splits in the Yugoslav leadership.

This is emphasised by the resignations of three ministers in protest at his removal and by the call by the president of the smaller Yugoslav republic of Montenegro for the Serbs to end the "suicidal policies" of confrontation with the "whole world."

True, if these are signs that the Milosevic regime is beginning to crack and that NATO's hopes of resolving the Kosovo dispute without a ground war may yet be realised, they must be qualified.

Firstly the ousted Draskovic, who formerly led popular opposition to Milosevic, is regarded as a maverick.

In addition, Montenegro's president, Milo Djukanovic, is a pro-western leader whose state has much more liberal ideals than those of Milosevic's authoritarian regime in Serbia. It is also unclear whether Draskovic's message can be ignited on the streets and turned into a force that puts pressure on Milosevic to compromise.

That would require some daring on the ousted deputy's part - given the thuggery that surrounds Milosevic.

Even so, we have a seen a spark in Yugoslavia that says the conflict must be stopped with compromise.

Whether it is kindled or whether the war goes deeper into attrition has yet to be seen, but there is one certainty already - that however it is resolved, the atrocities that have taken place are such that there can never be any amnesty for those responsible.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.