Milutinovic in Hague for trial

Serbia's former president, Milan Milutinovic, flew to The Hague yesterday to join the former president of Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milosevic, in the dock on war crimes charges arising from the "ethnic cleansing" of Kosovo in 1999.

Mr Milutinovic, who arrived in the Netherlands in a jet chartered by the Yugoslav government, was one of Mr Milosevic's closest allies and could provide incriminating evidence against him.

He was almost immediately summoned to a meeting with the chief prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte, fuelling speculation that he might give evidence in the Milosevic case in exchange for a reduction in the charges against him.

But a spokeswoman for Ms Del Ponte played the idea down, saying the chief prosecutor "explained his rights in the presence of two lawyers and informed him of the normal request from the prosecution for an interview".

Mr Milutinovic, who has declared his innocence, had agreed to surrender to the court once his period in office expired, which happened at the end of last year. He will appear in court later this week to register a plea.

His indictment alleges that Yugoslav and Serbian forces under his authority conducted a campaign of violence against Kosovo Albanian civilians to preserve Serbia's control.