Kostunica to meet war crimes head

BELGRADE, Yugoslavia -- Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica is to meet chief U.N. war crimes prosecutor Carla del Ponte, after all, when she visits Belgrade next week.

He said on Thursday he made the U-turn because he wanted to discuss the practice by the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia of issuing sealed indictments on war crimes suspects.

Kostunica suggested he would publish any names handed to him by del Ponte. He also said he wanted to talk about the use by NATO of firing depleted uranium shells during the Balkans conflict.

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And he defended his weekend meeting with his predecessor Slobodan Milosevic, who has been indicted by the tribunal on charges of war crimes in Kosovo and is regarded by the West as the leader most responsible for a decade of Balkan bloodshed.

Kostunica had said earlier this week he had no plans to meet del Ponte, prompting criticism from within the reform alliance that backs him, and concern among diplomatic powers.

The president, who has accused the tribunal in the past of anti-Serb bias, said he had not intended to meet del Ponte because his schedule was very busy and he thought there were other more appropriate officials for her to meet.

"But...there are several things which influenced me to change the decision and to receive Carla del Ponte," he said.

He said NATO's use of depleted uranium in its 1999 bombing of Yugoslavia, an investigation into a mass killing in the Kosovo village of Racak in the same year and his concern at the tribunal's use of sealed indictments were issues he now wanted to discuss with del Ponte.

"Sealed indictments are simply shameful for all those who have known for centuries what law is and what law should be," he told a news conference in Belgrade.

Asked if he would publish sealed indictments, he replied: "Naturally our public must be informed about this as well as our parliament, federal government and government bodies."

Kostunica, who describes himself as a moderate nationalist, took office last October after a mass uprising forced Milosevic to concede defeat to him in a presidential election.

The DOS reform alliance which backs him now also dominates the Yugoslav government and is set to form a new government in Serbia, the country's dominant republic, after a landslide victory in a general election last month.

Reuters contributed to this report.