'Courts to decide' on Milosevic extradition

Slobodan Milosevic: Wanted on war crimes

Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica has said he does not have the power to prevent his predecessor, Slobodan Milosevic, from being tried by the War Crimes Tribunal in the Hague.

Mr Kostunica, who is opposed to Mr Milosevic's extradition, said he had his political views on the matter but it was up to the courts to decide what to do with the former president.

The president's remarks came amid speculation that the former Yugoslav leader would be arrested on corruption charges.

"It is up to the courts to decide"

They also coincided with comments by the tribunal's deputy prosecutor, Graham Blewitt, that they hoped to have Mr Milosevic at the Hague by the end of this year.

Mr Blewitt said some movement was expected this month, with the likely extradition of some other persons living in Serbia.

This would set a precedent for handing over indicted Serbs to the Tribunal.

President Kostunica has said he opposes this, accusing the Hague Tribunal of practising "selective justice".

In his remarks, to the Yugoslav daily Danas, Mr Kostunica said his predecessor's fate must be decided by the courts.

Corruption probe

Mr Milosevic tops the list of persons indicted by the Hague Tribunal in connection with the Kosovo conflict.

About 50 of his supporters have been standing guard outside Mr Milosevic's villa in Belgrade to try to prevent his arrest on corruption charges.

An attempt was made on Mr Draskovic's life

Interior Minister Dusan Mihajlovic told the BBC that police had handed over papers relating to allegations of corruption surrounding the former president's acquisition of property.

The papers will now be considered by a magistrate who is expected to press charges.

On Wednesday, the authorities also ordered a probe into allegations that Mr Milosevic smuggled more than $1m of gold abroad last year, around the time he was ousted by a popular uprising.

Gold transfer

In a separate investigation, the Swiss economic ministry is trying to pinpoint the transfer of the gold from Yugoslavia.

Officials in Switzerland have confirmed that gold worth $1.1m was transferred from the Yugoslav state mining company in Belgrade to a Swiss firm between 21 September and 2 November last year.

They say the gold was refined in Switzerland and the proceeds from its sale were sent to companies in Cyprus and Greece.

However, one of the companies processing the gold, MKS Finance SA, said it was co-operating with the Swiss investigation but denied any link to Mr Milosevic.

Investigators are also keen to find evidence linking Mr Milosevic to political assassinations, abductions and the attempted murder of the leading opposition figure, Vuk Draskovic.

They had hoped former head of the secret service Rade Markovic, who was arrested last Friday, would provide evidence.

But the Serbian interior minister said Mr Markovic was not co-operating so far.

The new Yugoslav administration has been keen to try Mr Milosevic for his years of misrule since they overthrew him in October last year.