Belgrade pushes ahead with move to extradite Milosevic

Moves to extradite Slobodan Milosevic to the UN war crimes tribunal at The Hague gathered pace yesterday after Yugoslavia's pro-reform leaders abruptly withdrew an extradition draft law from parliamentary consideration.

Analysts said that Belgrade might opt for a solution that would directly implement the statute of the UN court, paving the way for the immediate extradition of the former Yugoslav president and others accused of war crimes. The federal government could issue a special decree on such a decision.

Yugoslavia is under international pressure to show serious signs of co-operation with the UN tribunal before a major donors' conference due on 29 June in Brussels. The country expects at least $1bn (£700m) from the meeting, to avert bankruptcy and a slowdown of reforms. The United States is threatening to boycott the conference unless Belgrade gives visible signs of co-operating with the UN court.

The Serbian Prime Minister, Zoran Djindjic, declined to comment yesterday on rumours that Mr Milosevic would be extradited to the tribunal by the end of this month.

The dominant Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) had been trying to push through the law on co-operation with the tribunal through the Yugoslav parliament for weeks, but was forced to withdraw the bill because of fierce opposition from Montenegrin deputies. The most important clause would have allowed the extradition of indictees, which is otherwise forbidden by the constitution.

The 18-member DOS alliance was due to meet last night to decide on ways of cooperating with the Hague tribunal.

Mr Milosevic has been in jail in Belgrade since 1 April, awaiting trial on corruption charges. He is indicted for crimes against humanity by The Hague, which wants him tried for alleged war crimes against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.

Serbian authorities are currently investigating the mass graves of ethnic Albanians who had allegedly been brought from Kosovo into Serbia proper in April 1999 at the time of the Nato bombing campaign which aimed to halt Mr Milosevic's crackdown against the Albanian population.

Informed sources have quoted a truck driver who says he transported at least 1,000 bodies from Kosovo into Serbia.