Chief war crimes prosecutor Ms Carla Del Ponte was in Belgrade today to press authorities to arrest and extradite General Ratko Mladic.
Ms Del Ponte met first with Yugoslav with Justice Minister Mr Savo Markovic in her bid to track down the former Bosnian Serb military commander and have him transferred to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague.
She refused details when asked if they had discussed the matter, saying only: "Obviously. Let's have him transferred to The Hague and then we will discuss it."
Ms Del Ponte claims that General Mladic is hiding in Yugoslavia and has accused the country's military authorities of protecting him.
In Sarajevo yesterday, she said she was going to Belgrade "to ask for the arrest and transfer of Mladic," who was indicted in 1995 on charges of genocide and war crimes committed during Bosnia's 1992-1995 war.
"Mladic is a simple issue because we know where he is, we know who is protecting him," she had said, adding: "In our opinion it is just a political decision to have him arrested and transferred. It could happen today."
Belgrade has persistently denied knowing General Mladic's whereabouts, a stance repeated today by Serbian Interior Minister Mr Dusan Mihajlovic. "I have no information that Ratko Mladic is in the territory of Yugoslavia," he told reporters in the Yugoslav parliament. [
General Mladic was listed by the Yugoslav government yesterday among 23 war crime suspects wanted by the ICTY who were given three days to surrender voluntarily, or face arrest and extradition. The ultimatum was in accordance with a new law on cooperation with the tribunal in The Hague.
AFP