The United Nations (UN) prosecutors Wednesday abruptly rested their case against former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic over two years after Milosevic first went on trial on war crimes charges.

"The prosecution case is hereby closed," The Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia said in a statement.

The prosecution wrapped up its case two days earlier to avoid further delays in the trial, which has been interrupted repeatedly because of the poor health of the 62-year-old Milosevic.

"We don't want any delay in the case. We want the case to be efficient. We have done our best during the case," prosecution spokeswoman Florence Hartmann said, citing Milosevic's repeated illness as a reason for requesting a swift end to their case.

Judges accepted the prosecution request to wind up their case without calling their final witnesses and rescheduled the start of Milosevic's defense from May to June, giving the former state of head 150 days in court to present his case.

However, a final ruling in the case is still years away.

In addition, the tribunal Wednesday also announced that presiding judge Richard May will step down on May 31 because of illness, which might lead to delay of the trial.

Under the ICTY's rules, if a judge resigns the proceedings can either be continued with a new judge or the whole trial must start again.

Milosevic, the first head of state faced at the UN tribunal with charge of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo in the 1990s, has conducted his own defense since the trial opened in 2002 .

(Xinhua News Agency February 26, 2004)