Kosovo's president, Ibrahim Rugova, clashed with his nemesis Slobodan Milosevic at the UN war crimes tribunal Friday, accusing the former Yugoslav president of massacres against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.

But in cross-examination, Milosevic labelled Rugova -- who led the non-violent movement for Kosovo's independence from Serbia after 1989 -- a pawn of the "great powers" trying to implement their own agenda.

"The great powers and the international community came out in our defence, for human rights and against the massacres perpetuated by Belgrade and by you," Rugova shot back.

The tense exchange was the only time Rugova addressed the former Yugoslav president directly. During the half-hour of questions before the court adjourned for lunch, Kosovo's president didn't once look at Milosevic, referring to him only in the third person.

The exchange was marked mostly by the two doggedly repeating their completely opposite opinions.

Milosevic asked several times, quoting newspapers and books, if Rugova believed the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) was a terrorist organisation.

"That's newspaper stuff," Rugova said dismissing the question. "The KLA was an organisation that responded to repression and violence for the purpose of winning freedom for the people."

Earlier in Friday's hearing, Rugova told the court how the province's ethnic Albanians suffered under the former Yugoslav president.

Rugova, dressed in a black suit with a red sweater, quietly explained how his party, the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) was founded.

"We were striving to build an independent Kosovo with rights for all people," he said, summarising the LDK's aims.

He also told the court how the Serb assembly revoked the autonomous status of Kosovo in 1989 and how the province was put under Belgrade's direct rule.

As with other witnesses, the prosecution also focussed on the years of discrimination against Kosovo's ethnic Albanians in the period leading up to the 1998-99 violent Serb crackdown on Kosovo Albanians.

The moderate Kosovo Albanian leader spoke of many meetings with the Serb authorities leading up to the conflict in which he said many promises were made for improvement but without any materialising.

During the full-blown war between the Yugoslav troops and the KLA, Rugova was a member of the Kosovo's ethnic Albanian delegation in the Rambouillet peace talks held in the beginning of 1999.

He told the court he felt the Serbian delegation wasn't serious in its efforts to reach an agreement.

"We did our bit, we signed the agreement," he said, insisting that the Serbs had not.

At the height of NATO's bombing campaign, Rugova also had a much-publicised encounter with the former Yugoslav president. This made him an easy target for hardliners who charged that he collaborated with the Yugoslav regime.