SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina, May 5 (UPI) -- The U.N. war crimes tribunal lead prosecutor said former Serbian military leader Ratko Mladic may be handed over to the court within a week.
Mladic's capture was deemed necessary to allow Serbia-Montenegro to continue association talks with the European Union, which broke off negotiations after a April 30 deadline set by Serb leaders to hand over Mladic was missed.
Referring to reports from Belgrade about Serbian police public activities in the area of Mladic's home and arrests of civilians who allegedly helped him in hiding, Carla del Ponte said it was only a show for the citizens of Serbia.
Del Ponte said she hopes Mladic, sought on genocide and crimes against humanity charges, would be handed over to the tribunal by May 11, the date when the European Union and Serbia-Montenegro were to have another round of talks.
Foreign and Serbian analysts have said Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica did not want to arrest Mladic in fear of a backlash from Serbian extreme nationalists who consider the fugitive former general a national hero.
Mladic is accused of responsiblity for the 1995 massacre of 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica.
