THE Yugoslav government insisted that it was operating with the international war crimes tribunal in The Hague, while at the same time accusing the tribunal of bias.
On Tuesday, the UN Security Council issued a statement saying that it "deeply deplored" Belgrade's continued refusal to cooperate with the tribunal.
But the Yugoslav Prime Minister, Mr Radoje Kontic, said that this was not the case.
"Yugoslavia is co operating, with the tribunal even though we believe that, up to now, the tribunal has not been treating all the parties involved in the conflicts in Croatia and Bosnia equally," he said.
Mr Kontic said that the tribunal had ignored seven reports submitted by his government detailing war crimes committed against Serbs.
He said that last week's visit to Belgrade by the Bosnian Serb commander, Gen Ratko Mladic, indicted for genocide and crimes against humanity, was an isolated case. The tribunal had protested that Gen Mladic was not arrested by the authorities.
The UN Security Council stopped short of explicitly threatening the reimposition of sanctions against Belgrade but reminded it of its duty to co operate with the international judicial authorities.
For their part, tribunal officials have on several occasions condemned Yugoslavia for its refusal to hand over people indicted of war crimes.
On May 22nd, the tribunal president, Mr Antonio Cassese, sent a letter to the UN protesting at the presence in Belgrade last week of Gen Mladic, who was attending the funeral of his deputy, Gen Djordje Djukic.
The Serbian Prime Minister, Mr Mirko Marjanovic, said that Gen Miadic was not arrested out of respect for the sanctity of a funeral.
Foreign ministers from the five nation contact group on former Yugoslavia will meet in Berlin next Tuesday to discuss the Bosnian peace process, the German Foreign Minister, Mr Klaus Kinkel, said yesterday.
"The foreign ministers of the US, Russia, Britain and France are all expected to attend," Mr Kinkel said, referring to the countries which, together with Germany, make up the contact group.