Serbian officials today denied a newspaper report saying the government knows where top war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladic is hiding.
The respected daily Danasquoted what it said was an impeccable source as saying the former Bosnian Serb commander was hiding in a big town in Serbia.
Danassaid it knew the name of the town but had decided not to publish. Its source said negotiating a surrender with Mladic, as widely rumoured, was in fact "not a true or serious option".
But it said the government was no longer hesitant about arresting Mladic, only about how to do so without casualties.
The government denied Danas's story, as it has done twice already this week following similar reports.
"Information on direct negotiations with Mladic and information that he is located in a town in the Serbian heartland are absolutely untrue," said Rasim Ljajic, head of Serbia's National Council for Cooperation with The Hague.
These reports were "turning into a campaign" and causing great damage to the state because "the impression is created that we know where Mladic is, that we have known all along, but do not want to extradite him," Mr Ljajic added.
Mladic is twice indicted for genocide, for the Srebrenica massacre of 8,000 Muslims in July 1995 and the 43-month siege of Sarajevo that killed some 12,000. He is rumoured to have the heavily armed protection of hardline factions in the army or secret service.