BELGRADE, Feb. 21 (Xinhuanet) -- The Serbian government denied on Tuesday media reports that top war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic was arrested in Belgrade during the day.

    Srdjan Djuric, spokesman for the government, told the official Tanjug news agency that the reports was aimed at hindering the government's endeavors for cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

    Mladic, former Bosnian Serb war commander, has been indicted by the ICTY of masterminding the massacre of some 8,000 Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica and the siege of Sarajevo during the Bosnianwar.

    Serbia has been hard pressed to hand over remaining six ICTY indictees, including Mladic. The Serbian authorities insist that they cannot locate Mladic, who had made public appearance in Belgrade until 2002.

    European Commission President Manuel Barroso said in Belgrade last week that he hoped there would be positive developments by late February, when European enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn files a report to the European Commission on Belgrade's cooperation with the ICTY.

    Local media has predicted that the deadline for Mladic's arrest was Feb. 21.

    Spokeswoman of the Serbian Interior Ministry Dragana Kajganic said that the police did not carry out any activities on Tuesday to arrest Mladic.

    Earlier on Tuesday, some media in the Bosnian Serb republic quoted unofficial reports as saying that Mladic was arrested Tuesday afternoon in Belgrade.

    Activities were underway for transferring Mladic to Bosnia's Tuzla and then to the ICTY, Bosnia's Bijelina BN TV said quoting the reports. Enditem