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Christopher Talks of Karadzic Arrest, Says Elections Should Proceed
The U.S. Secretary of State, in remarks clearly directed at Milosevic who has so far failed to implement a pledge to ensure the departure of the two, said everyone around the table should comply with the Dayton peace accords on Bosnia which provided for the removal of the pair from positions of influence. Later, in an interview with wire reporters, Christopher said a letter indicating that Karadzic would resign from office would not be enough to satisfy U.S. demands for Karadzic's removal from power.
There have been news reports that Milosevic would present such a letter to Christopher during a discussion later in the day. Christopher said he did not know if Milosevic had brought a letter of resignation from Karadzic. "What we want to see is tangible action. Letters have significance but actually being out of the office and not exercising the powers of the office or influencing it is what is vital to us," he said.
Earlier Sunday, Christopher, after talks with Balkan leaders, declared that elections in Bosnia would go forward in September despite human rights violations and other difficulties. "I want to assure you that having met with all the key figures here I would say that elections will go forward on schedule," Christopher said in an interview taped for television.
"I want to include in that, the supreme allied commander (of NATO) Gen. (George) Joulwan who emphatically indicated that he felt elections should go ahead and would go ahead," he said in the interview with CBS Television's Face the Nation. A senior U.S. aide said Washington expected that the Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which is overseeing the Bosnia elections, would certify at a June 14 conference in Florence that the polls should proceed.
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GENEVA (Reuters) - Secretary of State Warren Christopher told Balkan leaders Sunday including Serbia's President Slobodan Milosevic that the two top Bosnian Serb leaders "should go to the Hague," a U.S. official said. He was referring to the president of the Serbs' "Republika Srpska" Radovan Karadzic and military commander Ratko Mladic, both of whom have been indicted by the United Nations' war crimes tribunal sitting in the Dutch capital. 
But the weekend Geneva talks, which were to have been focused on all-Bosnia elections due to take place in September, have been overshadowed by controversy over the dominant role still played by Karadzic in the Bosnian Serb leadership. At a luncheon for the three presidents, the U.S. official told reporters: "Christopher said the continued presence of Karadzic and Mladic was intolerable and that they should go to the Hague."
Berserkistan, June 1 · Marginalize Karadzic, Says West
Berserkistan, June 1 · Tomorrow’s Geneva Summit: Assuring Bosnia’s Elections
Berserkistan, May 31 · Warren Christopher to Intervene at Talks in Geneva
Berserkistan, May 31 · US: Cost Cost of Capturing Karadzic, Mladic Too Great
Berserkistan, May 30 · EU Administrator Sets Mostar Elections for June 30
U.S. State Department Policy on Bosnia
Warren Christopher Biography
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