THE HAGUE, Feb 23: Serbian authorities are negotiating with Bosnian Serb war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladic about surrendering to the UN war crimes court, Dutch Foreign Minister Ben Bot told parliament on Thursday.

“I understand that negotiations are ongoing,” Bot said.

The Dutch minister, who visited Belgrade this week, said that his Serbian interlocutors had told him there were talks with Ratko Mladic, the ANP news agency reported.

Mr Bot’s comments came after days of media reports in Serbia that Mladic, who is wanted for genocide for the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, had been arrested or was negotiating his surrender.

Those reports were denied by both the Serbian government and UN war crimes prosecutor Carla Del Ponte.

Ratko Mladic is accused of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in the bloody 1992-95 war in Bosnia.—AFP