Ljajic, who also chairs the National Council for Cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), met chief prosecutor Carla del Ponte and tribunal president Theodor Meron in The Hague on Tuesday.
Speaking on Television B92 last night, Ljajic said "completely opposite" information was given about the cases of Hadzic, Bosnian Serb wartime military leader Ratko Mladic, and four Serbian army and police generals indicted by the U.N. tribunal.
According to Ljajic, del Ponte underlined Serbia and Montenegro had the obligation to start cooperating with the tribunal immediately and fully, and that relations between the state union and the tribunal could improve only when the aforementioned cases had been settled.
Ljajic said the chief prosecutor told him she had information about Mladic's whereabouts but could not divulge it because she trusted no one not to notify Mladic. He added he was confident Belgrade would be "absolutely ready" to arrest Mladic if it were to receive reliable information as to his whereabouts.
"No one has reason to protect Ratko Mladic, not even military and police structures, since the whole country is hostage to one man."
Ljajic said his talks with ICTY president Meron focused on the possible transfer of some cases to Serbian courts. He said Meron told him the Hadzic case had been a test Serbia flunked and could therefore not expect the ICTY to transfer war crime trials. Ljajic added Meron said that if Mladic was extradited, the transfer of some cases could be considered, although the cases of the four police and military generals were not mentioned.
Ljajic said cooperation with the Hague tribunal was a priority issue for Serbia and Montenegro which could not depend on current affairs. He added concrete examples of cooperation should be shown before del Ponte's visit on October 1, such as relieving numerous witnesses of the obligation to keep state and military secrets, and extraditing Hadzic.