BELGRADE, Yugoslavia

Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica is at the centre of a political storm after being blamed for Belgrade's failure to meet today's U.S. deadline for handing over war crimes suspects.

And the cost could be dear, adding up to a freeze in millions of dollars of American aid.

The finger of accusation is being pointed at Mr Kostunica by his political rival, the Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, seen as a pro-Western pragmatist.

Djindjic favours full co-operation with the Hague Tribunal to avoid renewed isolation and sanctions.

The President, on the other hand, is against giving anyone up to the war crimes court without a law being brought in first, defining the procedure.

The UN Tribunal and Washington are demanding a number of suspects be sent to the court, including the current Serbian President Milan Milutinovic, who is wanted for alleged war crimes in Kosovo.

It has already taken delivery and put in the dock its most wanted defendant, the former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.

His handover, last year, followed a similar "cash for co-operation" deadline and it, too, pitted Kostunica against Djindjic.