Top Serbian leaders pledged on Wednesday to successfully
complete cooperation with the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague,
including extradition of war crimes suspects and access to archives
about suspects.
"Serbia has so far honored most of its commitments and it is
necessary to complete cooperation," said Serbian Prime Minister
Vojislav Kostunica, following a meeting with Carla del Ponte, chief
prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former
Yugoslavia (ICTY).
The Serbian government is determined to successfully complete
cooperation with the ICTY, Kostunica said.
Earlier on Wednesday, Serbian President Boris Tadic told del
Ponte that Serbia must complete the cooperation with the ICTY, as
that is of vital importance for its efforts to join the European
Union, even though the recent deaths in The Hague have tarnished
the credibility of the ICTY.
Local officials have said that the credibility of the tribunal
has been undermined following the suicide of former Croatian Serb
leader Milan Babic and the sudden death of former Yugoslav
President Slobodan Milosevic.
Del Ponte said that ICTY gives priority to resolving the case of
former Bosnian Serb war commander Ratko Mladic.
Serbia has been hard pressed to hand over six remaining war
crimes suspects, including top suspect Mladic, who has been
indicted with genocide and other war crimes in the Bosnian war.
The European Union has warned that Mladic had to be arrested and
extradited by April 5, when a new round of talks on association
between the two sides are due to be held.
After her trip to Belgrade, Del Ponte will present a critical
report to the European Union, which will decide whether to suspend
the association talks with Serbia.
(Xinhua News Agency March 30, 2006)
