Yugoslavia was preparing on Tuesday to hand over indicted war criminals to the UN tribunal in The Hague, seeking to avoid a repeat of the international isolation and sanctions it endured during Slobodan Milosevic's regime.

The federal government of Yugoslavia -- which comprises Serbia and Montenegro -- decided at an extraordinary meeting on Monday to "cooperate fully" with the tribunal, apparently bowing to US pressure after Washington froze 40 million dollars in aid.

Domestically, the screws were also tightened on Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica by political rivals after he refused to authorise the surrender of more suspects to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).