War crimes prosecutor urges more progress by Serbia

BELGRADE (Reuters) - The new chief U.N. war crimes prosecutor said on Thursday that Serbia still needed to do more to cooperate with the Hague tribunal, a key condition for its further progress towards European Union membership.

Serge Brammertz was speaking on his first trip to Serbia since taking over in January from Carla del Ponte.

"I particularly insisted on the search for and arrest of the four remaining fugitives," he told reporters after meeting senior Serbian officials. "It is crucial that they be brought to justice as soon as possible."

Brammertz said he had been briefed on Serbia's efforts to arrest the fugitives, who include the wartime Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and his military commander Ratko Mladic, "but progress is still needed in all of these areas".

The message was clear, although Brammertz's tone was softer and more encouraging than that used by del Ponte, a firebrand who banged her fist in the Serbian parliament, declaring "I want my fugitives".

The EU was hoping for a broadly positive report, allowing it to offer Serbia a pre-accession pact and boost pro-EU parties in a general election next month, but without sending the signal it was giving up on its condition for progress on war crimes.

Most EU states want to sign off on the pact before the May 11 vote, fearing gains by nationalists riding a wave of resentment since the Western-backed secession of Serbia's Kosovo province.

CRITICISM OF EU

But the Netherlands has indicated it will block a signing unless Serbia tries harder, especially in the case of Mladic.

The visit comes at a time when the popularity of both the EU and the Hague tribunal are at a low point in Serbia.

Brussels' support for the secession of Kosovo in February stoked nationalist sentiment. The government coalition collapsed one month later over whether Serbia should pursue EU membership despite the bloc's support for Kosovo.

Pre-election opinion polls put the hardline Radicals, who put closer ties with Russia before links with the EU, narrowly ahead of the pro-Western Democratic Party.

Another sore point was The Hague's acquittal of Ramush Haradinaj, a commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army in its 1998-99 war for independence from Serbia, which outraged even pro-Western Serbs.

All in Serbia believe Haradinaj was guilty of crimes against ethnic Serbs in the former province, and nationalists said there should be no more handovers to a 'biased, anti-Serb' court.

Brammertz said he was not satisfied with the Haradinaj ruling, noting that the case was weakened because several witnesses failed to appear in court.

"My office is currently studying the 300-page judgment to make an assessment on possible grounds to appeal," he added.

(Editing by Ralph Boulton)