The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), who was in Belgrade on Wednesday, was quoted by the local Radio B92 as saying that the war-time Bosnian Serb military leader was still hiding in Serbia.
Del Ponte held talks with top Serbian officials, including President Boris Tadic, Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica and the head of the Serbian-Montenegrin national council for cooperation with the UN tribunal, Rasim Ljajic.
She did not hold a news conference, but Radio B92 reported that "the main if not the only issue which she raised was what had been done to arrest Mladic", adding that the assessment of Serbia-Montenegro's cooperation with the ICTY depended on this issue.
Ljajic informed the ICTY Chief Prosecutor about "Serbia-Montenegro's complex political situation" and cautioned that any suspension of talks between the European Union and Belgrade on the Stabilisation and Association process would have "far-reaching negative consequences".
Del Ponte is expected to present her assessment of Belgrade's cooperation with the tribunal in Brussels on Friday, 31 March.