[JURIST] A Serbian security official said Tuesday that Serb police had intercepted a cell phone conversation involving Bosnian Serb general and indicted war criminal Ratko Mladic [ICTY case backgrounder; JURIST news archive], the strongest lead police have thusfar developed in the search for the fugitive. Earlier reports of negotiations [JURIST report] between Mladic and the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia [official website] were denied [Scotsman report] late Monday by Serbia's Interior Minister. The European Union [official website] has threatened [JURIST report] to deny Serbia's bid to join the EU if it does not deliver Mladic to the ICTY by the end of the year. Western officials believe Mladic is being sheltered [JURIST report] by former members of the Bosnian Serb army he once led. AP has more.