The majority of people in Serbia think that former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic, indicted by a UN court for war crimes, should be handed over to the Hague-based tribunal, a poll showed Monday.
In a survey by the Center for Research Alternatives, 46 percent of those polled said Milosevic, indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), should be extradited, while 32 percent were opposed and 22 were undecided, the daily Danas reported.
Milosevic and four of his top allies were indicted by the ICTY for war crimes allegedly committed in Kosovo.
His reformist successor, Vojislav Kostunica, has said he should be tried in Serbia and has repeatedly criticised the court as biased.
Of those polled, 49 percent favored the former strongman being tried both for war crimes and abuse of power.
Another 29 percent wanted him to stand trial only for wrongdoings in the country that are not related to the wars in former Yugoslavia.
Six percent of the 1,678 people questioned throughout Serbia last week believed he should not be prosecuted at all, the poll said.
ICTY chief prosecutor Carla Del Ponte has repeatedly called for Belgrade to arrest and extradite suspects indicted by the tribunal and believed to still be in Yugoslavia, including Milosevic.
Belgrade has so far refused to hand over war crimes suspects to the tribunal, arguing that the constitution bans extradition of its nationals.
Officials from the ruling coalition that ousted Milosevic last October, have repeatedly said they favor him standing trial in the country, rather than to be handed over to the Hague tribunal.
Washington has said it may cut off financial aid to Belgrade unless it begins handing over suspects indicted by the court by March 31 -- BELGRADE (AFP)
