WASHINGTON?Yugoslavia has met U.S. criteria for cooperating with the U.N. war crimes tribunal, Secretary of State Colin Powell said Tuesday, opening the way for a resumption of U.S. assistance.

Powell’s announcement means that $40 million in frozen assistance can be released and that the administration is free once again to support Yugoslav loan requests in the World Bank and other international lending institutions.

Also, Yugoslavs’ private U.S. assets that have been frozen can now be released, Powell said. The amount was not disclosed.

All forms of U.S. support for Yugoslavia’s development had been suspended since March 31 because Powell was unable to certify that Belgrade was fully cooperative with the Hague-based tribunal.

Powell made the announcement after a meeting with Yugoslav foreign minister Goran Svilanovic.