DJINDJIC: COOPERATION WITH ICTY INCLUDES EXTRADITIONS

BELGRADE, Dec 22 (Hina) - The Belgrade-based radio station B-92 on Saturday quoted Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic as saying cooperation with the international war crimes tribunal in The Hague included extraditions, adding he hoped the US Congress would give Serbia a positive mark for compliance with international commitments. Commenting on the information that Congress had set some conditions for assistance to Serbia, Djindjic said his government was doing its best to meet the three requirements the US administration marked as preconditions for democracy. The Serbian premier said Serbia would act in line with the ICTY Statute until a law on cooperation with the tribunal was adopted. Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic was handed over to the Hague tribunal under the ICTY Statute as Yugoslavia did not have a law on cooperation with the tribunal. Under the ICTY Statute, UN member-countries are obliged, regardless of national legislation, to hand over their citizens if so requested by the ICTY. "We must understand that cooperation with The Hague includes extraditions as well. We don't have a plan as to who, when and how, and even if we adopt the law on cooperation with the ICTY, it remains to be seen how it will be implemented. I believe that topic will come to the agenda in January," Djindjic said. (hina) rml