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Kornblum to Pressure Milosevic to Give Up Karadzic, Mladic
By Jude Webber
He was referring to Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, who like Bosnian Serb military chief Ratko Mladic remains at large despite being indicted by the international war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
"There is no way out for Karadzic's strategy," he told reporters. "I think that there is no question he's going to drop from the scene but...these aren't things that just happen overnight." Ministers from more than 40 countries at the meeting in Florence, Italy, stepped up demands for Karadzic and Mladic to be brought to justice immediately because of their destabilising influence ahead of Bosnian elections due on September 14.
Italian Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini told a closing news conference that he hoped for progress in the next three months. Bosnian premier Hasan Muratovic said earlier he had sought a reintroduction of sanctions against Serbia and the Bosnian Serbs on July 1 to try to force the pace of the handover of suspects. "We asked for the deadline on sanctions. It was not accepted," Muratovic said. "There wasn't any consensus," Kornblum said. "They
(sanctions) are a very blunt instrument, very hard to turn
off."
The final declaration after the two-day meeting said sanctions remained a last resort but they were not needed now.
Gojko Klickovic, prime minister of the Bosnian Serb republic, earlier ruled out the voluntary extradition of Karadzic and dismissed demands for his arrest as "hysteria." "He will decide for himself whether to run (in the elections) or not," Klickovic said. Indicted war criminals are barred from standing in the election or holding office under the Dayton accord that ended the 43-month war in Bosnia.
Kornblum dismissed Klickovic's comments as "unfortunate -- especially as Klickovic has said he fully supports the Dayton agreement." He said he would make a one-day visit to Belgrade on Saturday before returning to the United States. A U.S. official said Kornblum had already made several trips to Belgrade to step up pressure for the capture of Karadzic and Mladic and said the administration was now losing patience. |
FLORENCE, Italy, June 14 (Reuters) - U.S. peace envoy John Kornblum said on Friday he would go to Belgrade on Saturday to press Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic to help bring indicted war criminals to trial. "I am going to be there to put pressure on him over Karadzic," Kornblum told Reuterss after a meeeting of the international community to review the Bosnian peace process.
Berserkistan, June 14 · Elusive Balkan Arms Pact Signed at Florence
Berserkistan, June 12 · Bildt: Karadzic Must Not Stand in Way of Elections
Berserkistan, June 11 · Mladic Close Encounter Called 'Hogwash' by NATO
Berserkistan, June 2 · Karadzic’s Shadow Looms Large over Geneva
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