TIP THAT MLADIC IS AT BELGRADE ADDRESS PROVES FALSE

BELGRADE, Oct 23 (Hina) - Serbian police launched on Wednesday an operation to arrest Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb wanted by the Hague war crimes tribunal, but established that he was not located at the Belgrade address they had received from an anonymous caller, Prime Minister Zoran Zivkovic told reporters on Thursday. #L# Yesterday he told a news conference that the search had begun, but said that it was a "routine activity since such tips have already been made in the past". He added that the authorities "react to every tip which appears serious, and representatives of the international community know it". The Hague tribunal's chief prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte, has said several times she is convinced General Mladic is in Serbia. After the tribunal recently issued an indictment against four generals in connection with crimes in Kosovo, some Serbian officials have estimated that if Mladic were arrested, the four might be left to the jurisdiction of national courts. Representatives of the U.N. tribunal, however, have dismissed it, as did Del Ponte in Pristina earlier today. (hina) ha