Former Serbian President Milan Milutinovic has met the chief prosecutor at the International War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague, hours after surrendering to the court authorities.

A spokeswoman said that during the talks with Carla del Ponte, Mr Milutinovic was read his rights and agreed to answer questions at a later date.

Milutinovic is accused of crimes against Albanians

However, she said the possibility of his testifying against the former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic, who is also on trial at the Hague, was not discussed.

Mr Milutinovic is expected to answer charges of war crimes allegedly committed in Kosovo in the late 1990s when 8,000 ethnic Albanians were forced to flee their homes.

No date was set for his first court appearance to enter a plea.

Prosecutors have alleged that, as a close associate of Mr Milosevic, Mr Milutinovic had control over atrocities blamed on Serbian forces in the province.

Mr Milutinovic was taken by car to a United Nations detention centre in the city after arriving on a special flight from Belgrade.

The way was cleared for Mr Milutinovic's extradition at the end of last year when his term in office expired and he lost his immunity from prosecution.

Mr Milutinovic has denied any involvement in war crimes and indicated he was going to The Hague voluntarily.

However, it is unclear whether the court will grant a request from the Serbian Government to allow Mr Milutinovic, who has a heart condition, to return to Belgrade pending his trial.

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Mr Milutinovic was the last member of Mr Milosevic's inner circle to leave office.

After Mr Milosevic was toppled in October 2000, he offered to co-operate with the authorities who replaced him.

Serbian television said the Serbian Prime Minister, Zoran Djindjic, had signed a letter for Mr Milutinovic explaining the support he had given the Serbian Government over the past two years.

Mr Milosevic's trial was called off for a fifth day on Monday amid reports that he was recovering from 'flu.

A court statement later said the case would resume on 27 January.

'No power'

Prosecutors say Mr Milutinovic, who was elected president of Serbia in 1997, is one of those ultimately responsible for atrocities committed by Serb forces in Kosovo.

Kosovo's ethnic Albanian Prime Minister, Bajram Rexhepi, described the extradition as "better late than never", but said reconciliation would only come when all war crimes suspects were brought to justice.

Mr Milutinovic says he knew little of what was going on and had no power over Serbian troops or police.

Serbia had been under pressure from the UN tribunal to arrest Mr Milutinovic after he was indicted in 1999.

But Serbian authorities refused to act against Mr Milutinovic while he was in power, saying to do so would degrade the office of president.