Del Ponte- Serbia making slow progress on suspects

AMSTERDAM, Oct 3 (Reuters) UN prosecutor Carla del Ponte said today Serbia's progress in capturing suspected war criminals, key to its European Union future, was rather slow, and she feared it may lead to failure.

''During my most recent visits to Belgrade, everyone I met, both on the political and on the operative level, assured me of Belgrade's commitment to full cooperation with the tribunal. I welcomed this declared commitment,'' she said in a statement.

''However, although we have seen some results in the past four months, progress has been rather slow. We are still waiting for documents, some of which were requested last year.'' Four war crimes suspects are still fugitive from the UN war crimes tribunal. All are ethnic Serbs. The most wanted among them are Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic and his political boss Radovan Karadzic, both charged with genocide.

''I am increasingly worried that this slow progress may not lead to a positive outcome,'' Del Ponte said.

REUTERS SKB KN1628