US/Hague Tribunal: The United States is poised to pass a law that will cut aid to Serbia unless a key war crimes suspect, Ratko Mladic, is handed over to the Hague Tribunal.
Mr Mladic, blamed for ordering the massacre of 7,000 Muslims at Srebrenica in the Bosnian war, is the Hague's most wanted man.
After three years of accepting assurances by the Belgrade authorities that the former Bosnian Serb army commander was about to be caught, US patience has run out. A Senate bill, expected to pass into law next month, demands Mr Mladic is handed over as a condition to aid programmes continuing beyond March 1st, 2004.
Any US move to suspend aid would probably be followed by similar cuts by the EU, IMF and World Bank, with private investors taking their cue from these institutions.
The loss of aid would be a disaster for Serbia, which remains impoverished after a decade of war and corruption under the rule of Slobodan Milosevic, himself on trial in The Hague.
Senator Patrick Leahy, the senior Democrat on the Senate's appropriations committee, said time has now run out for Belgrade to comply with UN rules on the arrest of suspects.
"It is inexcusable that Ratko Mladic, who perhaps more than anyone besides Slobodan Milosevic is responsible for the slaughter of thousands of innocent people, has not been apprehended," said Senator Leahy. "Under my amendment, US aid to Serbia next year would be withheld until the Serbian authorities turn him over to the Hague prosecutor."
It leaves Belgrade facing a difficult choice: elections are due in November, and the fragile governing coalition faces powerful opposition from nationalists.
Belgrade insists that Mr Mladic is in hiding and beyond the reach of their commandos. But Hague officials insist the Serb authorities know where he is.
One rumour in Belgrade says Mr Mladic remains on an army pension, so even if the special forces cannot find him, the post office probably can.