Surrender For Genocide Suspect?

Serb security officials insist that talks are under way for the surrender of fugitive general Ratko Mladic, despite government denials of any such operation.

Mladic, a former Bosnian Serb commander, has been indicted on genocide charges for allegedly orchestrating the massacre of some 8,000 Muslims in the U.N. enclave of Srebrenica in 1995 - Europe's worst carnage since World War II and the worst crime of Bosnia's 1992-95 war.

A senior security official told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the authorities have made contact with Mladic and were negotiating his surrender.

The official, who is close to the operation to capture Mladic, said "a direct line of communication" has been established with the wartime Bosnian Serb general who is sought on genocide charges.

"If he does not surrender, we'll do everything possible to hand him over" to the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, the official said on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to talk to the media.

But the government said there had been no such operation.

"Yesterday and today, there were no special activities by the state authorities related to the Mladic case," government spokesman Srdjan Djuric said in a statement.

Belgrade authorities have been under immense international pressure to arrest Mladic by the end of February, or face possible suspension of talks on establishing closer ties with the European Union.

As the deadline approached to arrest Mladic, government officials maintained they are doing all they can to capture Mladic, but that no immediate action was under way.

"The moment we find Gen. Mladic, we will arrest him," said Deputy Prime Minister Miroljub Labus.

Vladeta Jankovic, a senior aide to Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, declared, "I want to be very clear that ... nothing has happened out of the ordinary."

Serbian media and analysts also have reported that Mladic has been located, after contradictory reports Tuesday that he had already been arrested.

"Mladic under siege" read a huge headline in Belgrade daily Blic's Wednesday edition. Citing sources close to Serb security services, the newspaper said that the notorious commander was "cornered" and his options were "very limited ... he can surrender soon or be arrested and extradited" to the international court.

In The Hague, the chief U.N. war crimes prosecutor Carla Del Ponte declared that Mladic is "within reach" of the Belgrade authorities, but "remains at large."

"Ratko Mladic is in Serbia," Del Ponte added, urging his arrest. She said that reports that Mladic had been apprehended were "false rumors ... (with) absolutely no basis whatsoever."

Military analyst, Aleksandar Radic, asserted Wednesday that "some form of contact" with Mladic has been established.

Radic added that "there was a police action yesterday in a wider Belgrade area" to hunt down Mladic.

"If Mladic is located somewhere in Belgrade, it could turn out a huge embarrassment for the authorities," Radic said.

The government officials dismissed the Mladic reports as "manipulation." But the deputy prime minister, Labus, still acknowledged that "there are things that cannot be said because of the investigation."

Jankovic pledged that Belgrade will continue its hunt for Mladic until the general is found.

"The search is taking its course," Jankovic told reporters. "The government of Serbia remains firmly committed to completing its international obligation ... to the very end."