BELGRADE, May 3 (News Agencies) - A Belgrade district court on Thursday delivered a U.N. war crimes indictment to former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic in the jail where he is being held, the court's chairwoman said in a statement.
Milosevic was arrested on April 1st on charges in Yugoslavia of corruption and abuse of power.
The U.N. court delivered the indictment for war crimes allegedly committed in the Kosovo conflict to Yugoslav Justice Minister Momcilo Grubac on April 6th, but Milosevic's lawyer said last week his client had still not received it.
In The Hague, the U.N. war crimes tribunal confirmed that Milosevic had been served with the international arrest warrant and the indictment for war crimes.
"This is a positive step that we acknowledge," said spokesman Jim Landale. "However, we would like to see more progress being made on the swift transfer of Slobodan Milosevic to the tribunal."
The Belgrade court's chairwoman Vida Petrovic Skero confirmed that the Belgrade district court had delivered an indictment of the international criminal court dated May 22, 1999, to Slobodan Milosevic, [written] in English and Serbian."
"The reason for delivering the document was to acquaint Slobodan Milosevic with its content," she said.
The indictment was delivered to the court on April 26th by the Yugoslav justice ministry through the Serbian justice ministry, the statement said.
There was no official explanation for the delay in delivering the document. ICTY officials said during their April 6th visit that Grubac had promised Milosevic would receive it within a week.
Yugoslav authorities have so far refused to extradite Milosevic to face trial at the court in The Hague, saying they plan to try him in Yugoslavia.
Milosevic was arrested in Serbia on April 1st after a stand-off between his bodyguards and police. His initial one-month detention was extended on Monday for another two months.
