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)