The arrest of Vlastimir Djordjevic was carried out with the help of the Serbian authorities and underlined the new policy of the month-old government in Belgrade to cooperate in the capture of fugitive war crimes suspects.

The cooperation is key to Serbia's bids to join the European Union and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

Earlier this month, former Bosnian Serb general Zdravko Tolimir, was delivered to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) to answer to genocide charges.

Anton Nikiforov of the ICTY prosecution office said Sunday that Djordjevic's transfer to The Hague was already "underway".