Slobodan Milosevic asked the UN war crimes tribunal to speed a decision on his request for provisional release to go to Russia for medical treatment, saying his health was worsening.

"I have a lot of noise in my head," the former Yugoslav president told the Hague court.

Milosevic's heart condition and high blood pressure have repeatedly interrupted his trial, now four years old, on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

He asked in December to travel to Moscow for specialist treatment. Judge Patrick Robinson told him the court would decide on the request this week.

Milosevic, 64, complained again of feeling unwell later in the proceedings yesterday and Judge Robinson asked a doctor to examine him after the trial was adjourned for the day.

Meanwhile, the UN prosecutor Carla Del Ponte said that Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb army chief wanted for war crimes and genocide over the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, "remains at large" and is in Serbia "within reach of the Serbian authorities."

"There is no indication at all that negotiations about his surrender are currently being conducted," she said, adding that she had been in contact with Belgrade about what she deemed the "false rumours".

Mladic, 63, is one of six remaining fugitives wanted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), most of whom are said to be hiding in Serbia.

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