Judges at Mr Slobodan Milosevic's war crimes trial took the unprecedented step today of revealing that a secret witness testifying against the former Yugoslav president was one of his key allies.
Mr Milan Babic, an ex-rebel Croatian Serb leader, is one of the most high-profile witnesses to testify so far at Europe's biggest international war crimes trial since World War Two.
Until today, he had testified behind a screen and was known only as witness C-061. But judges lifted his "protected witness" status after Mr Babic's lawyer told the court his client wanted to reveal his identity to openly counter allegations made by Mr Milosevic and aid reconciliation in the former Yugoslavia.
Mr Babic's lawyer added that as a result of media reports in the Balkans, his identity was already widely known and said members of Mr Babic's family had been threatened. Mr Babic was a central figure in the breakaway Krajina Serb republic (RSK) in the 1990s as the collapse of the former Yugoslavia spurred Serb nationalists to fight for territory in Croatia and Bosnia.
A burly dentist dressed in a dark jacket and grey jumper, Mr Babic was regarded by tribunal prosecutors as one of Mr Milosevic's key allies during a campaign to expel non-Serbs from about a third of Croatian territory in 1991-92.
"This morning presiding judge (Richard) May has said that henceforth the witness will be addressed by his full name Mr Babic and that the protective measures have been lifted," tribunal spokesman Mr Christian Chartier said.