KOSTUNICA: DAYTON AGREEMENT HAS NOT BEEN RATIFIED BY YU ASSEMBLY

BELGRADE, Jan 13 (Hina) - The office of Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica issued a statement on Saturday saying the re-opening of the office of the Hague war crimes tribunal in Belgrade did not mean that all tribunal's requests would be accepted automatically. It dismissed the possibility of hand-overs and contested the Dayton agreement "because it has not been ratified by the parliament." In an official letter published today by the Belgrade paper 'Glas', the office of the Yugoslav president said the Yugoslav constitution did not allow the extradition of Yugoslav citizens "to a foreign court" and that "claims about possible hand-overs are completely unfounded." The letter was sent to the paper as a response to a claim the daily published on Friday saying Yugoslavia would be ready to accept the presence of Hague prosecutors at the trials of war crimes suspects in Yugoslavia. Kostunica's office now questions the implementation of the Dayton agreement claiming the document had not passed the Yugoslav constitutional procedure which envisages "the ratification of international agreements by the Assembly." The statement also points to the fact that the agreement had not been signed by the Yugoslav prime minister, in whose jurisdiction this is, but by the then Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic. The office of the Yugoslav president says it will cooperate with the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY) "to the extent which is allowed by the Yugoslav legislation and which does not offend national dignity." "We will exchange evidence, which will also make it easier to make public evidence on crimes committed against our population," the office said. According to recent announcements, ICTY Chief Prosecutor Carla del Ponte should visit Belgrade on January 23. (hina) sb rml