THE HAGUE -- Former Yugoslav army chief Dragoljub Ojdanic was to appear before the UN tribunal Friday to hear charges against him of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Kosovo.

A court official said the retired general, the biggest fish netted by the court since ousted president Slobodan Milosevic, would make his first appearance in court at 2:30 pm (1230 GMT).

Ojdanic landed in the Netherlands on Thursday after agreeing to a Yugoslav government deadline to turn himself in or face arrest and extradition. On arrival he was promptly transferred to the tribunal's prison facility outside The Hague, AFP reported.

The 60-year-old Ojdanic -- the Yugoslav army's chief-of-staff during the bloody Kosovo crackdown -- was indicted in May 1999 along with Milosevic and three other high-ranking Serbian and Yugoslav officials for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Ojdanic was on a list of 23 indicted war criminals who were given an ultimatum to voluntarily give themselves up by the Yugoslav government last Wednesday. Only six of the suspects agreed to turn themselves in.

Before leaving Belgrade on a Yugoslav airlines flight, the retired general said he was setting out to prove his innocence.

"I have nothing to be ashamed of and my conscience is absolutely clear," Ojdanic said, adding that he expected the government to offer guarantees for him to be released pending trial.

Tribunal officials have refused to play up his arrival here, and are setting their sights on other names on the list of 23 -- especially top fugitives Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic.

The United States also said the surrender of Ojdanic was still not enough for the United States to unblock tens of millions of dollars in much-needed U.S. aid to Belgrade that is contingent on cooperation with the tribunal.