Yugoslavia seeks extradition law

Drafting the law would enable the extradition of suspects like Milosevic

BELGRADE, Yugoslavia -- Yugoslav coalition partners have failed to agree on a draft law enabling the extradition of war crimes suspects to a U.N. court, Reuters has reported.

The United States has indicated it sees Belgrade's cooperation with the tribunal in The Hague as a condition for American aid to the impoverished Balkan country.

But Montenegro's Socialist People's Party (SNP), coalition partner of Serbia's ruling Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) alliance in the federal Yugoslav government, has so far opposed the new legislation.

The current constitution bars extradition of Yugoslav citizens.

The SNP is a former ally of the Socialist Party of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, but it switched sides after his ouster in a popular uprising last October.

SNP party head Predrag Bulatovic met for four hours of talks with DOS leaders including Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic and Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica.

Bulatove told reporters: "We had a discussion, we are trying to find a solution and we are seeking a solution."

He was quoted as saying over the weekend that his party favours cooperation with the U.N. court but that it also believes Yugoslav citizens may be tried in the country, which consists of Montenegro and much larger Serbia, according to Reuters.

Kostunica's office said in a statement that Monday's talks had been held in an open and constructive atmosphere and that "final consultations" would be conducted on Wednesday evening.

Djindjic warned on Saturday that the country faced a dark future if it failed to pass the new legislation, saying it would have serious consequences for its economy and foreign relations.

The U.S. had threatened to cut off aid if Yugoslavia did not co-operate with the U.N. war crimes tribunal -- which indicted Milosevic two years ago -- by the end of March.

Following the arrest of Milosevic on April 1, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell decided that Yugoslavia qualified for $50 million aid.

Canadian Foreign Minister John Manley told Reuters on Monday the world's most important donor nations could decide to withhold some aid to Yugoslavia unless Belgrade shows it is serious about sending Milosevic to the U.N. tribunal. An international Yugoslavia donors' conference is scheduled for the end of June.

Yugoslavia's new leadership has so far refused the court's demand for a swift hand over of Milosevic.

The government, while not ruling out Milosevic's extradition to the Hague, has said it wants to try him first at home for alleged corruption and abuse of power during his rule, marked by bloody wars that accompanied the breakup of former Yugoslavia.

Yugoslav authorities linked Milosevic to possible war crimes during the 1999 Kosovo conflict for the first time on Friday.

Police launched an investigation amid allegations that Milosevic ordered police to dump a truck containing bodies of 50 people, believed to be ethnic Albanians, into the Danube River two years ago and then ordered evidence of the crimes to be covered up.

The conflict in Kosovo, the southern province of Yugoslavia's main republic Serbia, erupted in 1998, with ethnic Albanians seeking independence battling Serb-led government troops.

It ended when NATO launched air strikes against Yugoslav forces accused of committing atrocities under Milosevic, then Yugoslav president.