Del Ponte seeks pressure on Serbia over fugitives

THE HAGUE, Dec 6 (Reuters) U N chief prosecutor Carla del Ponte wants the international community to keep up the pressure on Serbia to arrest war crimes suspects even after NATO offered the country closer ties, her spokesman said today.

Del Ponte will tell the U N Security Council on December 15 that the U N tribunal -- due to complete all trials and appealsby 2010 -- cannot close without trying top fugitives former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and his army commander Ratko Mladic.

''Fugitives are key to the completion strategy of the tribunal,'' her spokesman told the tribunal's weekly briefing in The Hague. ''To finish our work without Karadzic, Mladic and others we believe is completely unacceptable.'' The spokesman said Del Ponte could not give a positive assessment on Serbia's help in arresting Karadzic, Mladic and four other suspected war criminals still sought by the tribunal.

''There is no progress, there is no indication of any accused, any of the six, any indication of their locations,'' he said.

EU FAST-TRACK On Monday, European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said the 25-nation bloc should review whether to resume talks with Serbia after a general election there on January 21.

Solana praised NATO's decision last week to invite Serbia, Bosnia and Montenegro to take the first step towards eventual membership of the defence alliance.

The European Commission froze negotiations with Belgrade in May after Serbia failed to keep a promise to arrest Mladic.

Del Ponte's spokesman said she was worried that if the EU dropped its demand for the arrest of war crimes suspects any impetus to cooperate with the tribunal would be lost.

''This conditionality keeps us in the hope that we will receive these fugitives... we never get any cooperation on a voluntary basis,'' he said.

Several EU member states, led by Hungary, are expected to push for the EU to agree next week to resume talks with Belgrade to try to help pro-European democrats in the January elections and weaken nationalist hardliners.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn told Reuters on Monday that Brussels wanted next week's EU foreign ministers' meeting to signal to Serbia that it could get on a fast track towards eventual EU membership once it complied fully with the tribunal.

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