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France Backs Carl Bildt’s Efforts To Remove Karadzic from Power
Bildt reiterated after meeting President Jacques Chirac that
Karadzic, twice indicted for war crimes, must leave public life
and face a United Nations tribunal in The Hague.
"Mr Karadzic knows his future, and his future is before the
tribunal," Bildt told reporters.
A presidential aide said Chirac hailed Bildt's action as
courageous and said the Dayton accord on Bosnia peace must be
fully implemented.
As the international community's High Representative in
Bosnia, the former Swedish premier is coordinating civilian
peace efforts and leading efforts to have Karadzic removed.
He declined to comment on what further steps could be taken
to remove the hardline Bosnian Serb president who has resisted
intense pressure to leave under the Dayton agreement, which
ended Bosnia's 43-month war.
The Paris declaration followed United States insistence on
Friday that it would make no deal to allow Karadzic and his
military commander General Ratko Mladic to escape prosecution
for war crimes.
The fate of the two is expected to be a major issue when
U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher meets the presidents
of Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia in Geneva on June 2.
Karadzic opposes the peace deal which bans him from standing
in the elections scheduled for September, and his continuation
in power has been obstructing the implementation of the accord.
Bildt was in Paris to attend a meeting of the steering board
of the Peace Implementation Council set up as part of the Dayton
agreement to help ensure it is carried out.
French diplomats said the board warned the former warring
sides that further international aid would depend on how they
implemented the accord over the next six months, particularly on
a return of refugees, restoration of lasting security and
cooperation between them.
"The parties must understand that we are there to implement
a peace agreeement... but it requires primarily action on their
side. It is their peace, their country, their future, their
responsibility, not ours and they must live up to their
commitments," Bildt said.
Failure to bring war criminals to justice and difficulties
hampering the forthcoming elections in Bosnia are among the main
problems in implementing the peace agreement.
Diplomats say that the Bosnia elections, already flawed by
the absence of a truly free media and of thousands of refugees,
will be fatally undermined if Karadzic is not sidelined.
The presidential aide said Bildt and Chirac insisted that
the elections must take place as scheduled in mid-September.
Local elections in Mostar, scheduled later this month, have
already been put off to the second half of June.
The aide said Chirac regretted that aid to Bosnia, due to be
shared by thirds between the European Union, the United States
and other countries, was still mostly provided by the EU.
The meeting of the steering board, which opened on Friday,
was continuing on Saturday. The Peace Implementation Council
comprises more than 40 states and 10 international organisations
including the United States, Russia, France, Britain, Germany,
Italy, Canada, Japan, the European Union and the Organisation of
the Islamic Conference.
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PARIS, May 25 (Reuters) - France on Saturday backed efforts
by Bosnia troubleshooter Carl Bildt to remove separatist Serb
leader Radovan Karadzic from office to clear the way for
post-war elections there.
Berserkistan, May 24 · Bildt Will Ask France to Help Remove Karadzic
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