UN war crimes tribunal officials are in Belgrade today to deliver a warrant for the handover of former Yugoslav president Mr Slobodan Milosevic, who is already being held on corruption charges.
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UN war crimes tribunal is to deliver a warrant for Slobodon Milosevic
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A tribunal spokesman said the delegation planned to hand the warrant for crimes against humanity in the 1999 Kosovo conflict to Yugoslav justice authorities who were then expected to serve it to Mr Milosevic in his cell.
Spokesman Mr Jim Landale said: "Milosevic is now in their custody, he is under their control, so they will be obliged to present the warrant to him with due diligence, without undue delay."
"The tribunal has primacy over national proceedings. If we perceive time-wasting, the tribunal . . . can take appropriate measures. But we are not at that stage yet.
"We are here to push the process of co-operation forward in legal and technical ways," he said.
Yugoslav President Mr Vojislav Kostunica, although a democratic reformer, has accused the tribunal of anti-Serb bias and ruled out any surrender of Mr Milosevic in the near future.
Belgrade says their priority is to try the former dictator for crimes against his own nation including corruption and criminal conspiracy.