When the law finally caught up with Al Capone, the famed Chicago mobster, the instrument of justice was income tax invasion. That might seem strange given his life of crime, but law-enforcement officials do the best with the tools they have and getting the feared man behind bars was the goal.

The Capone analogy is often used by Yugoslav officials when discussing the fate of former President Slobodan Milosevic, the man who presided over the dismembering of his country and triggered bloodshed throughout the region. Mr. Milosevic should be arrested and tried, preferably by his own country. There should be no hurry to see him brought to trial; the important thing is that is that justice be done.

There has been intense speculation about Mr. Milosevic's fate since he was overthrown last year. Many people in Serbia and the rest of the world are eager to see him in the dock; others, not nearly as many, but more than enough to cause serious trouble in Yugoslavia, prefer to let him go into retirement. Even Serbs who want justice are reluctant to see their new government bow to Western pressure and send the former president to the international tribunal in The Hague.