The Bosnian Serb Prime Minister, Mladen Ivanic, has said a new law approved by his government should lead to the arrest of top war crimes suspects, including Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic.

Mr Ivanic, who was speaking in the Netherlands, said he expected the law to pass through the republic's parliament within three weeks, before being implemented by the supreme court. He is due to hold talks in The Hague on Thursday with chief war crimes prosecutor Carla del Ponte and the president of the international tribunal, Claude Jorda. Mr Ivanic said he did not know the whereabouts of Mr Karadzic and General Mladic, who are the two most wanted suspects from the Bosnian conflict. They are charged with genocide and other crimes against humanity - including the massacre of thousands of Muslim men from the town of Srebrenica in 1995. The law is expected to face a challenge from nationalists in the Bosnian Serb parliament, but the republic's leaders are facing mounting pressure to pursue the suspects.