Ratko Mladic's case: police arrested alleged aide of general

Also Wednesday, Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said in a statement that the government is "working intensely to solve the case of Ratko Mladic" and thus revoke a suspension of talks on establishing closer ties with the European Union.

Photo: Ratko Mladic's case: police arrested alleged aide of general

Police did not immediately confirm the arrest, reportedly made late Tuesday. The radio said the man arrested was Blagoje Govedarica, who worked as a driver for Mladic during the 1992-95 Bosnian war but later moved to Serbia where he retired several years ago as an officer of the Serbia-Montenegro Army.

If confirmed, it would be the 11th arrest this year of alleged Mladic aides, as the authorities try to narrow the search for the fugitive indicted more than a decade ago by the U.N. war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

U.N. prosecutors insist thatMladic is hiding in Serbia under protection of nationalist hardliners. Serbian investigators say they cannot find him.

In a punitive measure last week, the European Union suspended pre-membership talks with Serbia until Mladic faces justice.

The suspension triggered an anti-government protest rally Tuesday evening. About 10,000 people demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica because of the obstacle to Serbia's desired membership in the EU.

The U.N. tribunal based in The Hague, Netherlands, has charged Mladic with genocide in the 1995 slaughter of up to 8,000 Muslims in eastern Bosnia and a three-year siege of Sarajevo during the Bosnian war.