As deputy premier, Perisic was at the centre of a spy scandal

The tribunal has not yet made public the charges against Momcilo Perisic, 60, a former army chief of staff during Slobodan Milosevic's rule.

Mr Perisic said he was willing to face the court "to defend my honour, to defend the reputation of the army and the dignity of our people".

The Serb government is under pressure to hand over war crimes suspects.

It has been threatened with further cuts in aid - and a cold shoulder from the European Union - if it does not do so.

Mr Perisic joins a growing list of former top Serbian military leaders to announce that he will hand himself over to the international tribunal investigating the Balkan wars of the 1990s.

He was chief of staff from 1993 to 1998, when Mr Milosevic dismissed him over differences on how to handle the southern Serbian province of Kosovo.

Mr Perisic founded an opposition party which was among those that helped topple Mr Milosevic in 2000.

Spy scandal

He became a deputy prime minister under the late Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, but was forced to step down in 2002 over allegations of spying for the Americans.

Mr Perisic, who was initially detained, strongly denied the allegations.

He spoke of a "dictatorial" arrest aimed at discrediting him.

He claimed parliamentary immunity from prosecution and has never faced charges over the spying allegations.

Croatia sentenced him in absentia to 20 years in prison for his role in the 1991 shelling of the town of Zadar.