Blair welcomes Milosevic arrest

British Prime Minister Tony Blair has welcomed the news that Slobodan Milosevic has been handed over for trial before the international War Crimes Tribunal at The Hague.

Speaking in Belfast before he had received definitive confirmation of the dramatic developments, Mr Blair hailed the handover as "a thoroughly good thing".

Milosevic's handover to a tribunal official in Belgrade came just hours after he appeared to have won a reprieve when judges suspended a decree permitting his transfer.

The Prime Minister said: "Events are unfolding at the moment. As I understand it, Milosevic has been handed over into the custody of the UN.

"If he is indeed on the way to The Hague, then that is good news, because we have always made it clear that he should stand trial in respect of the allegations that we have always made against him.

"I can't be absolutely precise at the moment as to exactly what the situation is, but if he is indeed one his way to stand trial, that is a thoroughly good thing."

Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Menzies Campbell said: "In the last 10 years, no one figure has exerted a more malign influence over the Balkans than Slobodan Milosevic.

"This marks a significant step forward in the enforcement of international law against those alleged to have committed war crimes.

Mr Campbell said that the handover would be a timely warning for both sides in the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia, where tension between the state government and ethnic Albanian seperatists has led to growing violence in recent weeks.

He said: "In Macedonia, both sides would do well to have regard to this significant event before they fall into an unnecessary and inevitably brutal civil war."