Serb PM warns of war crime arrests

Djindjic warned isolation could happen if Serbia did not cooperate

BELGRADE, Yugoslavia -- Serbia war crime suspects could be arrested within days, the country's prime minister has said.

About 15 indicted suspects, including General Ratko Mladic, wartime military leader of the Bosnian Serbs, are wanted by the United Nations' war crimes tribunal.

Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic's statement comes as Serbia faces a weekend deadline to hand over the suspects to the tribunal.

The U.S. Congress has given Yugoslavia until Sunday to cooperate with the tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, or risk losing $120 million in financial assistance.

"If we do not cooperate, we could face international isolation and U.S. sanctions, literally within days," Djindjic said.

He said that "within three to four days" some of those indicted could be delivered to the tribunal.

"This is the reality we face. Whether it will happen in a couple of days, five days or 10 is not that important," Djindjic said.

Stressing that cooperation was crucial for Yugoslavia's integration into Europe, he added: "We must once and for all make it clear whether we want to become part of the world or not."

U.S. ambassador for war crimes issues, Pierre Prosper, said on Thursday at the U.N. that Mladic must be caught and extradited for trial.

"He cannot remain at large. He must go to The Hague," Prosper told The Associated Press.

Acting on a similar ultimatum last year, the Serbian government arrested former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, now on trial in The Hague for atrocities his forces committed in Kosovo, Bosnia and Croatia in the 1990s.

Djindjic warned that if the country does not cooperate it would lose "millions of dollars, the International Monetary Fund, standby deals, the World Bank ... everything that has to do with European integration."

Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica has been critical of the U.N. court.

In an interview this week with Serbian state television, Kostunica said he was "sick to his stomach" of hearing about the tribunal and accused the court of a "horrific degree of prejudices."

Djindjic's Cabinet earlier this week adopted the U.N. tribunal's rules allowing for extraditions.

Vladan Batic, Serbia's justice minister, said Friday that the republic's police were authorized to carry out arrests. "The police will decide when and who will be extradited," Batic told AP.