Del Ponte meets security chiefs

Belgrade, September 21 (Source: B92) - Serbia's action team operatives and Chief Hague Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte talked for over three hours in Belgrade Thursday. The meeting took place at the Belgrade Special Court building, when National Coordinating Council for Hague Cooperation chairman Rasim Ljajić and Del Ponte were joined by Special Prosecutor Vladimir Vukčević, state security (BIA) and military intelligence (VBA) chiefs, Rade Bulatović and Svetko Kovač.

Sources close to the meeting say the Serbian officials tried to reassure Del Ponte that although the four remaining indictees, Ratko Mladić, Radovan Karadžić, Goran Hadžić and Stojan Župljanin remain at large, "active work is being done to secure their arrests." Earlier in the day, Del Ponte and Ljajić agreed that Serbia's obligations toward the UN court "should be met as soon as possible." Tanjug quoted a statement released by Ljajić's office, which said today's talks "mostly covered cooperation in the area of providing documentation which is sent by the authorized organs of the Republic of Serbia at the request of the Prosecutor's Office of the Hague Tribunal." During the meeting, "individual practical questions of this area were resolved," and it was agreed that the remaining case documents currently requested would be sent to the Hague by October 1, 2007, at the latest.

Del Ponte is set to see Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica later in the afternoon, while her visit to Belgrade will end in the morning as she meets President Boris Tadić. Serbian officials and the chief Hague prosecutor did not address reporters directly after today's discussions. Del Ponte is expected to discuss the level of cooperation between Serbia and the Hague Tribunal, prior to submitting a report to the European Union. The report will be crucial in determining whether Serbia will be able to sign the Stabilization and Association (SAA) agreement with the EU by the end of this year. B92 has learned from unofficial sources late Thursday that the report will be positive.

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