Del Ponte accuses Belgrade of stalling

Del Ponte said the Milosevic handover was not enough

By Alix Kroeger in Belgrade

The chief UN war crimes prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte, has strongly criticised the Yugoslav Government for its failure to co-operate with the Hague tribunal.

Denying us access to this information...only fosters suspicion that people in power are not interested to disclose and face the truth

Carla Del Ponte

Speaking at a news conference after a day of meetings in Belgrade, Mrs Del Ponte did not mince her words.

She said there had been no movement forward on Yugoslavia's co-operation with The Hague.

She said co-operation was not limited to the transfer of one accused - a reference to Yugoslavia's former President, Slobodan Milosevic, who was handed over to the tribunal in June.

Kostunica factor

Mrs Del Ponte wants access to documents, archives and witnesses, but she said there had been no serious progress.

Del Ponte wants access to witnesses and archives

Having met officials from both the Serbian and federal governments she gave Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic credit for trying to foster some aspect of co-operation.

But she strongly criticised the Yugoslav Federal Government for - as she put it - blocking co-operation for political reasons not connected with the tribunal.

The party of Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica opposes co-operation with the tribunal on principle, and it was noticeable that Mrs Del Ponte's schedule did not include a meeting with the president.

The prosecutor concluded by saying that the denial of access fostered the suspicion that certain people were not interested in establishing the truth.

She appealed to the authorities to co-operate so that the tribunal could finish its work as soon as possible.