The decision to withhold the assistance was made by Secretary of State Colin Powell who assessed that Serbia and Montenegro was still not cooperating with the tribunal after the United States withheld for the same reason more than 16 million dollars of aid intended for the country in 2004, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said in a statement.
The United States is considering alternative ways to use the assistance to promote its political goals regarding Serbia and Montenegro.
Serbia and Montenegro will nevertheless receive 73.6 million dollars of aid from the United States in 2005, however, the funds will not be granted to the central government but be directed to organisations and programmes dedicated to reforms, Boucher said.
The US government calls on Belgrade to fully cooperate with the UN tribunal by arresting and extraditing runaway indictees, particularly Ratko Mladic, Boucher said, adding that Secretary of State Powell was willing to reconsider his decision if Serbia and Montenegro started cooperating.