A statement by the NATO-led Stabilization Force (SFOR) said it had arrested "a number of individuals" near the town of Prozor on Sunday because it "had reason to believe" that one of them was Gotovina, indicted over the killing of 150 ethnic Serbs in 1995.

The suspects were released Monday after identification by the tribunal in The Hague showed Gotovina, who has been on the run for more than two years, was not among them, the statement said.

The SFOR solders, backed up by helicopters when they moved into Prozor Sunday, set up roadblocks and searched vehicles and private homes, the FENA news agency of Bosnia's Muslim-Croat entity reported.

Several hundred SFOR soldiers remained in the area on Monday continuing to search passengers at roadblocks, FENA said.

SFOR spokesman James Billings confirmed there was an "ongoing operation" but refused to provide more details.

FENA said the SFOR soldiers had attempted to search a Franciscan monastery in the area Sunday but were refused entry by the guardian.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) has charged Gotovina with war crimes against ethnic Serbs during a 1995 military operation that enabled Croatia to retake the rebel Serb-held territory in the south and practically ended the conflict.

According to Gotovina's indictment, at least 150 ethnic Serbs were killed during the operation, hundreds went missing, and up to 200,000 fled the region.

Gotovina is believed to shuttle between Croatia and Croat-dominated parts of Bosnia. The Croatian government has previously said that Gotovina has almost certainly fled the country.

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