Sanctions will stay in place until Milosevic handed over, says US

The new government of Yugoslavia was furious yesterday after Washington suggested that sanctions would not be lifted unless Slobodan Milosevic was handed over to the War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague.

The new government of Yugoslavia was furious yesterday after Washington suggested that sanctions would not be lifted unless Slobodan Milosevic was handed over to the War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague.

Vladeta Jankovic, the number two to the president-elect, Vojislav Kostunica, issued a stark warning that relations between the new government and the West will not run as smoothly as had been hoped

Mr Kostunica has repeatedly insisted that Mr Milosevic will not be delivered to The Hague. Mr Jankovic told the Independent on Sunday: "They [the Americans] have moved the goalposts. This is not something we'll accept - to change the rules of the game after it has begun. And that applies to anyone else who might try to do the same."

Mr Jankovic said: "We did what we did alone. No promises have been made of any kind." He also revealed that when Mr Kostunica visited Mr Milosevic on Friday, Mr Milosevic was still refusing to admit defeat.

Only when Mr Kostunica produced a piece of paper officially confirming the decision of the constitutional court that day - a cave-in by the regime - did Mr Milosevic finally tell Mr Kostunica: "I'm a fighter, but I know when I'm beaten."

Marko Milosevic, the unpopular and allegedly corrupt son of the former Yugoslavian president, flew from Belgrade to Moscow yesterday with his wife and son. He has been notorious in Yugoslavia for running an extensive business empire from his father's home town of Pozarevac.

Marko Milosevic, his wife Zorica and son Marko Jr boarded a morning flight to Moscow where Borislav Milosevic, the brother of the former president, is Yugoslav ambassador, said news agencies.

His arrival is likely to spark speculation that his father and mother may soon follow him to Russia. Mr Milosevic said on Friday that he wanted to spend more time with his family, especially Marko Jr. But Borislav Milosevic told Russian television that he did not expect his brother to leave Yugoslavia. "Why should he go?" he asked, adding that half the people of Yugoslavia supported him.

The Russian foreign minister Igor Ivanov, on returning yesterday to Moscow from Belgrade where he met Mr Milosevic and President Vojislav Kostunica, said that the issue of political asylum for the former Yugoslav leader had not been raised during the talks. "These issues are Yugoslavia's internal affair, and we certainly did not discuss them," he said.

President Vladimir Putin would not welcome Russia as a bolt hole for the Milosevic family unless this was agreed with the new government in Belgrade and the western powers. At the same time they could hardly turn him away.