Serb police arrest man suspected to be Mladic

BELGRADE: Serbian police have arrested a man suspected to be the wanted war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic, an Interior Ministry official said on Thursday.

"He has some physical features of Mladic. We are analyzing his DNA now," the official said on condition of anonymity. The man was arrested in Serbia on an anonymous tip, he said.

Serbia must arrest Mladic, sought by the U.N. war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) for genocide during the 1992-1995 Bosnian war, if it wants to join the European Union.

Arrest would show Serbia wants EU path

The European Commission said on Thursday it was awaiting confirmation of whether Serbian police have arrested Ratko Mladic and said such a move would show the country wanted to move forward on European Union membership.

Serbian police have arrested a man suspected to be the top wanted war crime suspect Ratko Mladic, an interior ministry official said on Thursday.

"We have all reason to believe this could be indeed be Ratko Mladic but we are waiting for confirmation," a European Commission spokeswoman said.

"If this is the case we consider that Serbia has understood the importance of... reconciliation with its history and its people and has decided it concretely wants to move on its European path," she told a regular news briefing.