FBI probes threats to Serbia's war crime prosecutor: spokesman

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has launched a probe into several US citizens of Serbian origin suspected to have sent death threats to Serbia's war crime prosecutor Vladimir Vukcevic, his office said Saturday.

"FBI officials have recently informed prosecutor Vukcevic that an investigation was underway in the United States and that several persons were suspected of threatening him," spokesman Bruno Vekaric told AFP.

"We were told that there was a progress in the probe," he said, but could not confirm local media reports that three people had already been detained.

Vukcevic and his team in charge with locating and arresting war crime suspects, including most wanted fugitive Ratko Mladic, have received more than 40 threatening letters and a number of telephone calls, Vekaric said.

Most of the letters were received from the US cities with significant Serb communities, but there were also a few from Europe, he said, giving no further details.

According to the spokesman, threats are being usually sent following an arrest or a search for remaining war crime suspects.

The latest ones were received after police on Thursday raided five locations in Belgrade, including the house of Mladic's son Darko, Vekaric said.

The raids were aimed at finding clues that could lead to the fugitive, officials said at the time.

Mladic, Bosnian Serb wartime military chief who faces genocide charges over the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys, is believed to be hiding in Serbia.

Another remaining fugitive is Goran Hadzic, wanted in connection with atrocities committed by Serb forces during Croatia's 1991-1995 war of independence.

Most Serbs consider the Hague-based war crimes court biased and anti-Serb one.

Serbia is under strong pressure from the international community to arrest and deliver the war crimes suspects as part of its bid to join the European Union.