The United Nations war crimes prosecutor, Carla del Ponte, has said that the Belgrade government has told her that the Balkans war crime fugitive, Ratko Mladic, remains at large.
Ms del Ponte told a news conference that the former Bosnian Serb general was within the reach of the Serbian authorities and that they must arrest him.
She said no negotiations were under way for his surrender.
There has been continued speculation in the Serbian media that the former commander is on the brink of being taken into custody on charges of genocide.
Conflicting reports that the former general had been located, or arrested, dominate newspaper headlines in Belgrade today.
However, the Serbian government and police deny that he has been captured. His whereabouts remain unknown.
Ratko Mladic is wanted for atrocities committed during the 1992-95 war in Bosnia, including the massacre of 8,000 Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica in July 1995.