Yugoslav government ministers said today that Mr Slobodan Milosevic, the former president, could face war crimes charges in The Hague within the month, following the passing of a new government decree allowing his extradition.
Mr Nebojsa Covic, one of Serbia's deputy prime ministers, said it would take 10 to 23 days to deliver Mr Milosevic to The Hague once an order for his extradition was approved.
The decree, approved by the reformist parties in the Yugoslav federal cabinet on Saturday, entered into force on Sunday. Afterwards, Mr Miroljub Labus, Yugoslavia's deputy prime minister, made it clear that his government intended to act. "There will be no bargaining. The Hague will ask for the transfer and we will respond."
Mr Goran Svilanovic, the Yugoslav foreign minister, said it was no longer a question whether Mr Milosevic would be extradited but when.
However, Mr Milosevic's lawyers said they would challenge the decree on constitutional grounds. "I hope there will be no extradition since the decree is an act of legal violence and should not take effect until the Constitutional Court rules on it," said Mr Toma Fila, the head of the defence team.
Mr Milosevic's extradition would set the stage for an unprecedented trial in which the former head of state would be accused of orchestrating the killing of thousands of ethnic Albanians during a campaign of terror in Kosovo.
The government was forced to resort to the decree after its coalition partners from Montenegro, former supporters of Mr Milosevic, last week refused to support a draft law that would have legalised co-operation with the international war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
The decree was a last ditch attempt by the Yugoslav government to show it is serious about co-operation with the court ahead of this Friday's meeting of international aid donors for Yugoslavia in Brussels. The US has made it clear it thinks any significant financial support for Belgrade should be linked to progress on co-operation with the war crimes court.
A spokeswoman for Carla Del Ponte, the chief prosecutor at The Hague tribunal, welcomed the extradition decree but called on the government to honour its international legal obligation to hand over Mr Milosevic.
Mr Jack Straw, Britain's foreign secretary, also welcomed the decree, saying it "takes us a step closer towards achieving justice in the Balkans". "Full co-operation with the UN war crimes tribunal, including the surrender of those indicted, will bring benefits to Yugoslavia," he said.
Domestic resistance to Mr Milosevic's extradition has subsided dramatically since his overthrow last year, with recent revelations of gruesome atrocities blamed on his regime apparently contributing to a sharp shift in public opinion.
Police have unearthed at least two mass graves, which they believe are filled with the bodies of ethnic Albanians. Many show signs of torture and one grave has the remains of three severed heads.
Only a few dozen die-hard Milosevic supporters, mainly old people, protested on Saturday outside the federal administration building where the cabinet met. After briefly chanting "Down with the Nato government" and "Traitors", the crowd dispersed peacefully.
Financial Times Service