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Bildt to ask French for Help in Removing Karadzic
'Piling on the Pressure'
by Francois Raitberger
"IFOR has a very central role in guaranteeing freedom of movement, but not necessarily... for those who are indicted for war crimes," Bildt told a news conference. "This is obviously one of the main topics we are going to discuss (with Chirac), the means that might be available in order to press on with the offensive against Karadzic that has been going on for the last 10 days," he said.
Bildt is due to meet Chirac on Saturday morning.
France has a large contingent in the the IFOR peace force in Bosnia, which has been criticised for not going after war criminals. IFOR has ruled out a commando-style raid to detain Karadzic or Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladic and says it will arrest them only if they are encountered during routine duties. Bildt, the international community's civilian representative in Bosnia, said he was piling on the pressure to try to remove Karadzic and other Bosnian Serb hard-liners from power.
"Mr Karadzic is being pressed out of public life in a more determined way than ever before... We are pressing them every single minute with all the means we have," he said. "They are clearly on the retreat... There is an air of
desperation in what they do," he told a news conference.
Karadzic, twice indicted for war crimes, is banned from office under the Dayton agreement but is clinging to power. Bildt said none of the parties to the conflict in former Yugoslavia had fully complied with their obligation to hand over war crimes suspects to the United Nations tribunal. But the priority was to remove Karadzic who western diplomats say is obstructing implementation of the peace accord. "Karadzic is poisoning more than others, and his efforts to hold on to public life should not be tolerated," Bildt said.
Bildt has been encouraging a split in the Bosnian Serb leadership between hardliners like Karadzic and moderates willing to work within terms of the peace accord drafted in Dayton, Ohio, last year and signed in Paris in December. But Karadzic this month sacked moderate Prime Minister Rajko Kasagic and appears to have emerged victorious from a power struggle.
Bildt said Karadzic had been deliberately provocative in recent weeks, and described this as unacceptable. "There are limits to what the international community should be prepared to tolerate... There are consequences to be faced if they don't listen sufficiently," he said. Bildt did not say what further pressure he could apply, but according to diplomats he has told Bosnian Serb leaders they could face new economic sanctions if they decide to hold a referendum testing suppport for Karadzic.
Bildt was due to report later in the day to the Peace Implementation Council, which was set up as part of the Bosnia peace accord to help ensure it is carried out. Its membership 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 24 (Reuters) — Bosnia peace coordinator Carl Bildt said on Friday he would discuss with French President Jacques Chirac how NATO forces could help oust Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, an indicted war criminal. Bildt, in Paris to brief a panel monitoring the Dayton peace accords on the situation in Bosnia, said Karadzic was clearly on the defensive under intense pressure to quit, and IFOR troops could step in.
Berserkistan, May 22 · Bildt to Peace Council On Failure to Oust Karadzic
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