By
The Associated Press
BELGRADE, Yugoslavia - The chief U.N. war crimes prosecutor arrived in Yugoslavia on Tuesday for discussions likely to focus on her demands for the extradition of Slobodan Milosevic and other war crimes suspects.
Carla Del Ponte was to meet with President Vojislav Kostunica later Tuesday in what is the first visit by a U.N. war crimes prosecutor to Serbia. Yugoslavia is a federation of Serbia and the much-smaller Montenegro.
Del Ponte said that during her three-day visit, "I expect to discuss cooperation in detail."
Her spokeswoman, Florence Hartmann, expanded on Del Ponte's comments.
"We are here to see whether Yugoslavia will start cooperating with the tribunal," she said. "Arrest of the indicted is an international obligation."
Del Ponte is expected to demand cooperation from Kostunica - a staunch critic of the tribunal based in The Hague, Netherlands. Many Serbs consider the tribunal biased against them.
The tribunal indicted former Yugoslav leader Milosevic in 1999 for alleged war crimes in the crackdown he ordered on Kosovo Albanians. The crackdown ended after 78 days of NATO airstrikes, and Kostunica replaced Milosevic in October following a popular uprising.
Milosevic's Socialist party protested Del Ponte's visit and demanded from all "patriots to raise their voices against the tribunal and its supporters in the country."
A party statement said that the extradition of Milosevic and other Serbian suspects is "against the national ... interests." It added that "impudent" demands by Del Ponte for the extradition "confirms her and the court's ruthlessness."
Kostunica initially said he would not meet Del Ponte but changed his mind last week, saying he wanted to discuss NATO's use of depleted uranium munitions in Kosovo and other issues.
Repeating his main argument - that domestic law bars the extradition of Yugoslav nationals to foreign courts - he said there "must be cooperation with the tribunal (only) within the existing Yugoslav laws."
On Monday, the European Union urged Yugoslav authorities to cooperate fully with the tribunal. Yugoslav Justice Minister Momcilo Grubac - one of those who argues that extradition would be legal - said his government had "no interest in harboring war criminals."
Grubac said he would also be meeting Del Ponte, as will Serbia's premier-designate Zoran Djindjic, Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic and other top-ranking officials.
In interviews before the visit, Del Ponte said she would insist on the arrest of Milosevic and other suspects living in Yugoslavia. She also planned to present Yugoslav authorities with new evidence against key suspects in atrocities committed during Balkan wars of the past decade.
Numerous suspects in addition to Milosevic are living in Yugoslavia, including the current president of Serbia, Milan Milutinovic, and the former Bosnian Serb military commander, Gen. Ratko Mladic.
Kostunica has suggested that Milosevic and others could be tried by a Yugoslav court where Milosevic may have to answer for such offenses as corruption, vote-rigging, fraud and leading the country into four destructive Balkan wars.
But Del Ponte was unlikely to waver in her extradition demand, although she may agree to have some sessions held in Belgrade if tribunal judges agree.
A minor pro-Milosevic group, the Patriotic Alliance, called for street protests against Del Ponte's visit. It said that instead of "putting the entire Serb nation" on trial, The Hague tribunal should charge NATO with "killing the Serb children and destroying the country" during its 1999 airstrikes against Yugoslavia.
