War crimes chief to press Belgrade

Del Ponte faces protests from supporters of Milosevic

BELGRADE, Yugoslavia -- Chief U.N. war crimes prosecutor Carla del Ponte has flown to Belgrade with a "shopping list" of high-profile suspects.

Among those she is seeking to extradite to the Netherlands-based tribunal is Serbian figurehead president Milan Milutinovic.

But Del Ponte was facing an uphill task. Serbian officials have indicated they are unwilling to cooperate with her demands to extradite all of the 15 war crimes suspects still at large in Serbia.

She was also facing demonstrations during her two day visit from supporters of extradited former president Slobodan Milosevic.

"Del Ponte can demand whatever she wants, but the Serbian government doesn't have to discuss it," Serbian Justice Minister Vladan Batic told independent B-92 radio, the Associated Press reported.

Batic and other top Serbian officials insist that Milutinovic and many other war crimes suspects sought by the U.N. prosecutor enjoy parliamentary immunity in Yugoslavia and thus cannot legally be extradited to the Netherlands.

U.N. prosecutors indicted Milosevic, Milutinovic and three other leaders of the former Belgrade regime for their role in the 1998-99 conflict with ethnic Albanians in the Serbia province of Kosovo.

As well as Milutinovic, former army chief of staff Col. Gen. Dragoljub Ojdanic, former Serbian Interior Minister Vlajko Stojiljkovic and former deputy prime minister Nikola Sainovic live openly in Belgrade despite U.N. war crimes tribunal indictments.

After Milosevic was ousted, Milutinovic was allowed to remain president of Serbia as long as he refrained from appearing in public or exerting influence.

Del Ponte has insisted that immunity does not apply to the U.N. court and that all suspects indicted for atrocities in Kosovo and in two previous Balkan wars must be handed over for trial.

The U.N. prosector wants others to join Milosevic in the dock

But Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic said Milutinovic's presidential title gives him immunity that can be lifted only through a complicated recall procedure or through elections.

"Demanding us to extradite Milutinovic would be most inappropriate," Djindjic said.

Observers said it was still possible that some suspects could be sent to The Hague as a signal of the government's willingness to cooperate with the U.N. tribunal.

Batic added that during her visit to Belgrade, Del Ponte will be faced with Serbian counter-demands that the tribunal indict Croats, Bosnian Muslims and ethnic Albanians in Kosovo who are also suspected of war crimes.

Del Ponte was meeting police officials on Monday. She is scheduled to meet Batic on Tuesday as well as the Serbian deputy prime minister and chief of the Interior Ministry. She will return to The Hague later in the day.