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Prosecutor of UN war crimes tribunal "prepared to receive" Milosevic at any time
6 October -- The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia today welcomed the recent events in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and expressed hope that the country's people would demonstrate the will to send ousted President Milosevic to face trial.

In a statement issued from the Tribunal's headquarters in The Hague, Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte said, "I take this occasion to send the message to the President Elect, Mr. Kostunica, that I am prepared to receive Milosevic in The Hague at any time." She added that Mr. Milosevic's trial "is the only solution if there is to be a true and lasting peace in the Balkans and if the people of Yugoslavia are to enjoy a democratic existence and to be fully accepted back into the international community."

The statement was issued as the Prosecutor wrapped up a trip to Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo. "In Sarajevo and Banja Luka this week, and in Washington last week, I have been pressing for the arrest of all fugitives who have been indicted by the Hague Tribunal, in particular Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic," she said. "Only by their standing trial on our indictment in The Hague can a lasting and just peace pave the way for true reconciliation in Bosnia."

While in Banja Luka the Prosecutor received assurances from top officials that the Government was prepared to bring to justice the killers who were responsible for thousands of murders in Srebrenica in 1995. "This is a very positive development, which would see The Hague Tribunal prosecuting the higher level perpetrators," she said.

The Prosecutor said that the forensic investigation being undertaken by and on behalf of her Office in Kosovo this year would soon conclude. "It is too early for me to issue details relating to the numbers of victims exhumed over the last two years," she said, but added that "there will be in excess of 4,000 bodies that have been recovered and examined."