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OSCE Delays Start of Bosnian Elections
‘...to offer the opportunity for Karadzic to step
Karadzic may not hold public office under the terms of the Dayton peace agreement because he has been indicted for war crimes in the Bosnian conflict. The Bosnian Serb leader announced two weeks ago that he was handing his presidential powers to a deputy. The deputy, Biljana Plavsic, said he formally remained president, however. Karadzic was also re-elected head of his Serbian Democratic Party.
International arrest warrants for Karadzic and his military chief, Gen. Ratko Mladic, were issued Thursday. Karadzic’s continued leadership of the party has split international officials.
The architect of the peace plan, former American diplomat Richard Holbrooke, is heading back to the region to prepare for the elections, State Department Nicholas Burns said Sunday. An administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity said Holbrooke will also try to negotiate Karadzic’s ouster. Karadzic says Bosnian Serbs should support his party as a matter of patriotism. The party has nominated a slate of candidates that supports his nationalist agenda of breaking off Serb-held territory from that held by Muslims and Croats. If the party is banned, Serbs may refuse to cooperate and stall the peace process entirely.
A senior Bosnian Serb leader, Aleksa Buha, told TV interviewers Sunday that by trying to oust Karadzic from his party post, international officials were in effect trying to form a new Serb party that would allow the reunification of Bosnia. He said the demand was "too much." Bosnian government officials also have said they will stay out of the Sept. 14 elections if Karadzic retains his party post.
"It is beyond the dignity of the Bosnian people to vote as long as Karadzic is head of the party," Bosnian Prime Minister Hasan Muratovic said Friday.
War crimes investigators searching for evidence that Bosnian Serb soldiers massacred thousands of Muslims after they captured the eastern enclave of Srebrenica a year ago continued to work Sunday at one mass grave site that has yielded about 60 bodies. Also in Serb-held eastern Bosnia, officials reported that a bomb late Friday had slightly injured two U.N. policemen, damaged several vehicles and blew out the windows of a police building.
The attack and the shooting of a U.S. diplomat heightened tensions for international officials monitoring a cease-fire since December. There was no further word Sunday on the wounded diplomat, whose identity has not been released. Her injuries were said to be not life-threatening.
In Sarajevo, retired U.S. military officers arrived Sunday to launch a training program for Bosnian forces under Washington’s plans to build an opponent capable of countering the Serbs. The officers are to sign an agreement Tuesday under which they will train forces of the Muslim-Croat federation.
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SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) -- Officials organizing Bosnia’s September elections delayed the start of campaigning Sunday to induce Radovan Karadzic to step down as head of the strongest Serb party. The campaign was scheduled to start Monday, but the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said it would now start July 19. The reason for the four-day delay, the organization’s spokeswoman Johanna van Vliet said, was "to offer the opportunity for Karadzic to step down for the sake of the Serbian people."
Robert Frowick, the American heading the European security organization’s efforts in Sarajevo, has warned that the entire party could be banned if Karadzic remains its chief. But the top international civilian official in Bosnia, Carl Bildt, is against that, his spokesman says. The elections are a key element in Dayton peace plan to patch Bosnia back together after 3½ years of war.
Berserkistan, July 14 · Election Delay: Where the Players Stand
Berserkistan, July 12 · Bosnia’s Government May Boycott Elections
Berserkistan, July 12 · Bosnia’s Ruling Party said Responsible for Attack on Siladjzic
Berserkistan, July 12 · Bosnia Mediator Likens Karadzic to Nazi’s Himmler
Berserkistan, July 12 · War Crimes Chief Slams Yugoslavia for Failure to Arrest Karadzic
Berserkistan, July 10 · Frowick Discusses SDS Election Ban with Serbia’s Milosevic
Berserkistan, July 8 · OSCE Says Karadic’s Party Could be Barred from Elections
Berserkistan, July 8 · Call to Bar SDS in Elections Catches Sarajevo by Surprise
Manhunt! How Much Can NATO Do to Capture Mladic, Karadzic?
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