The upper house of the Yugoslav parliament has passed a draft law which will allow the extradition of war crimes suspects to the international tribunal in The Hague.
The proposed law was passed by the government late yesterday, after last-minute amendments specifying that only people who have already been publicly indicted will be automatically handed over.
The Hague tribunal is seeking a total of 33 fugitives. The majority of them are believed to be in Yugoslavia or Bosnia's Serb Republic. The most wanted are Bosnian Serb wartime leaders Mr Radovan Karadzic and Mr Ratko Mladic, both charged with genocide.
However, three former top state officials indicted with Mr Slobodan Milosevic over Kosovo are widely seen as more likely candidates for early extradition.
They stand accused of responsibility for the mass killings and expulsions of Kosovo Albanians.
The three are former Yugoslav deputy premier Mr Nikola Sainovic, the Yugoslav Army's ex-chief of staff Mr Dragoljub Ojdanic and former Serbian Interior Minister Mr Vlajko Stojiljkovic.