Milosevic allies arrested

Could Mr Milosevic soon be behind bars?

More than half a dozen close associates of the former Yugoslav president, Slobodan Milosevic, and his wife, Mira Markovic, have been arrested in Belgrade.

Up to eight men are reported to be in custody, facing allegations of abuse of power and fraud.

They are believed to include a former leader of Mr Milosevic's Socialist Party (SPS), Uros Suvakovic; and former high-ranking foreign ministry official Danilo Pantovic.

This is a new act of persecution against the members of our party

Socialist Party statement

The detentions have prompted fresh speculation that the former president himself may soon be arrested.

But a BBC correspondent in Belgrade, Nick Thorpe, says the new authorities are moving cautiously, and detaining Mr Milosevic's associates in the hope of finding evidence that could link him to economic and political crimes.

Milosevic accounts

Judicial authorities are examining the financial affairs of the former president, who was ousted by Serbian pro-democracy protests last October.

He is reported to have tens of millions of dollars stashed in secret foreign accounts, something he denies.

Belgrade residents sign a petition calling for Milosevic's prosecution

A statement from prosecutors quoted by the Beta news agency named Mr Suvakovic and Mr Pantovic as being among those arrested.

Mr Pantovic is a member of the Yugoslav Left, the party run by Mr Milosevic's wife.

A source who declined to be named told Reuters news agency that Nikola Curcic, a former deputy head of the secret police during the Milosevic era, had also been arrested.

Arrests condemned

The Socialist Party condemned the arrests.

"This is a new act of persecution against the members of our party," the party said in a statement sent to Beta.

The new authorities in Belgrade "are mistaken if they think that the persecution of the members of the SPS will help improve the economic situation in the country, which is more and more difficult," the statement added.

The SPS named some of the others detained as Milos Loncar, Tomislav Jankovic, Nikola Mitrovic, Radosav Sekulic and Zoran Visnjic.

President Kostunica has resisted calls for Milosevic's extradition

Some of the suspects are accused of embezzling money from the country's social security system; others are said to have bought a villa in an upmarket area of Belgrade.

The new wave of arrests follows the detention in February of Rade Markovic, a close Milosevic aide and former chief of State Security, in connection with an apparent attempt to assassinate former opposition leader Vuk Draskovic in October 1999.

War crimes tribunal

Attention is being increasingly focused on Mr Milosevic, and how much longer he will remain at liberty.

He has also been indicted for war crimes by the United Nations tribunal in The Hague, but the authorities have indicated their first priority is to have him tried in Yugoslavia.

Belgrade is under increasing pressure by Washington to co-operate with the war crimes tribunal.

The administration has threatened to freeze aid payments and oppose foreign loans if the authorities in Belgrade do not prove that they intend to co-operate.

Last week Belgrade handed a Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect, Milomir Stakic, to the tribunal.