Differences of emphasis have emerged between UN officials and Britain over the handover of Mr Slobodan Milosevic to the war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
The former president is detained in the Yugoslavian capital awaiting trial on corruption and other charges. His successor, President Vojislav Kostunica, has opposed demands for his transfer to The Hague, at least at this stage.
Mr Milosevic is charged with war crimes by the UN's International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia which initially appeared willing to wait a few months for his transfer from Belgrade.
But there was a new note of urgency from the tribunal yesterday as Mr Jean-Jacques Joris, political adviser to the chief prosecutor, said: "The transfer is the result of a non-negotiable obligation and it must happen immediately."
However, the British Foreign Secretary, Mr Robin Cook, who arrived in Belgrade yesterday for talks, indicated a willingness to wait until Mr Milosevic had first gone through the judicial process in his own country. "I believe the people of Serbia are entitled to hear the full truth of Milosevic's crimes against the Serb people in [a local] court," he told reporters in advance of a meeting with President Kostunica. "I do not come here to pressure or to threaten. I come here as a partner."
The international community wanted to help the new administration, but it was a two-way partnership, Mr Cook said. "Mr Milosevic is not above international law either," he added, "and the end of that legal process will not be complete until he is handed over to the Hague tribunal for the crimes he has committed against the other people of the Balkans".
Mr Cook will travel on to Skopje today to pledge support for Macedonia's government, currently dealing with an insurrection by ethnic Albanian guerrillas.
Observers believe that handing Mr Milosevic over to the UN tribunal would be less risky politically for the new administration if he had first gone through a domestic judicial process. This would highlight his alleged embezzlement of funds during his 13 years in power.
Mr Milosevic was arrested early on Sunday morning and taken to Belgrade's Central Prison where a judge ordered his detention for 30 days. Mr Kostunica, a democratic reformer but also a moderate nationalist, believes extraditing his predecessor to The Hague would be an affront to national and state dignity.
However, there have been suggestions that the Yugoslavian authorities may widen the range of charges against the former ruler to include alleged involvement in the assassination of political opponents. In addition to corruption, he is already charged with inciting his guards to shoot at the arrest team which arrived at his house last Friday night.
The UN tribunal's prosecuting team holds Mr Milosevic responsible for the mass murder and deportation of ethnic Albanian civilians in Kosovo in 1999. Three politicians from his regime, as well as his former chief-of-staff, face charges.
Meanwhile, Mr Kostunica has established a truth and reconciliation commission, based on the South African model, to investigate human rights abuses over the past 10 years.