Milosevic net tightens, U.N. told

Milosevic: Indicted war criminal

THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- Former colleagues of ex-Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic are helping gather evidence against him, the Serbian justice minister has said.

Vladan Batic, visiting the United Nations court trying Balkan war crimes, said the indicted former president is under "an intensive investigation" and he may be arrested very soon.

Milosevic has been indicted by the tribunal for alleged crimes committed during the conflict in Kosovo in 1999.

Chief U.N. prosecutor Carla Del Ponte has said the indictment may be broadened to include the wars in Croatia and Bosnia in the early 1990s.

The visit to The Hague by Batic is the first by a top Yugoslav official since Milosevic was ousted.

It comes as a March 31 deadline approaches for Yugoslavia's Government to show a clear sign of cooperation over Milosevic if it is to receive $100 million in aid from the United States.

Yugoslav authorities are separately investigating possible financial crimes by the former president, including allegations he siphoned off millions of dollars into foreign bank accounts.

"The new Serbian Government has a new approach toward The Hague," said Batic, adding that Serbia, the larger of the two Yugoslav republics, had allowed the tribunal to open an office in Belgrade to facilitate investigations.

Batic also said Serbia will take steps to transfer non-Yugoslav citizens indicted by the U.N. for war crimes to the tribunal.

"There is no reason whatsoever that Serbia should be an oasis for war criminals," Batic said.

U.S. officials have said they do not expect Milosevic to be handed over to the tribunal by March 31 but arresting him even on domestic corruption charges would be a strong signal that Belgrade is serious about examining its recent past.

Batic said the visit to The Hague showed a new attitude toward the tribunal: "By coming here we are showing we cannot ignore an institution of the United Nations."

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International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
U.S. House of Representatives
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

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