Ojdanic entered not guilty plea

Hundreds of thousands of Kosovo Albanians were forced out of their homes during that time, many losing their lives.

Prosecutors at the Hague tribunal hold Mr Sainovic responsible for atrocities during this period. He is indicted on the same charge sheet as Mr Milosevic, who is currently on trial at the tribunal on war crimes allegations.

The charges against Momcilo Gruban relate to his time working at the Omarska prison camp in 1992 during the war in Bosnia - the scene of some of the worst atrocities in the Bosnian war.

The tribunal says Mr Gruban failed to stop torture, sexual abuse and killings in the camp which held Bosnian Muslim and Croat prisoners.

'Not guilty'

The change in Yugoslavia's law on extraditions brought its first tangible results for the tribunal last week.

Karadzic continues to defy the tribunal

The former head of the Yugoslav army, General Dragoljub Ojdanic, gave himself up last Thursday.

General Ojdanic led operations during the Kosovo conflict.

He pleaded not guilty to crimes against humanity.

Seventeen other people on a government list of indicted suspects have so far refused to give themselves up, and warrants have been issued for their arrests.

Among them are two of the most wanted suspects, Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic and his military chief, Ratko Mladic, who remain at large.

Yugoslavia is under immense financial pressure from the United States, which froze economic aid at the end of March after the country failed to meet a deadline to start handing over suspects to the UN tribunal.

While welcoming General Ojdanic's surrender, the US State Department has said much remains to be done if the $40m in assistance is to be released.

The US also wants the Belgrade authorities to open up their military archives to investigators from the tribunal who are keen to use the material as evidence.