KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: And although the impending arrest of Milosevic is not directly tied to his 1999 indictment on war crimes, the Bush administration would be happy to have him in custody just the same. CNN's Kelly Wallace joins us now live from the White House with more on that part -- Kelly.</s>KELLY WALLACE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, the U.S. would certainly welcome an arrest of the former Yugoslav leader. A senior administration official telling me a short time ago that the White House is watching this situation very closely. The administration hoping that the situation is resolved without violence and that it ends up with Milosevic being arrested. Now, what is clear is even if Milosevic is arrested just for domestic crimes such as abuse of power and corruption, the administration would still view an arrest as an important step forward for the rule of law and White House officials would certainly hope that the arrest would then eventually lead to Mr. Milosevic being tried for those war crimes he was indicted for by the International War Crimes Tribunal. Those crimes stemming from the treatment of ethnic Albanians during the Kosovo conflict. Now today, as Walt mentioned, happens to be a deadline, a congressionally imposed deadline for the administration to determine if the new Yugoslav government is cooperating or beginning to cooperate with the War Crimes Tribunal. Now, in the requirements that the administration must look at, there's no mention of Milosevic by name. The administration, though, must look at a range of factors, including whether or not the government is beginning to assist with cooperating with that war crimes tribunal. At stake, again, as Walt mentioned, about $50 million in U.S assistance as well as loans or access to loans of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund -- Kyra.</s>PHILLIPS: All right, Kelly Wallace live from the White House. Thank you.
White House Would Welcome Arrest of Former Yugoslav Leader Milosevic