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Holbrooke Mission Fails to Remove Karadzic
‘I don't want to leave you... with the expectation
By Laura Lui
He said he did not expect Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic to be ousted and extradited to face war crimes charges as a result of his shuttle diplomacy in former Yugoslavia this week.
"I don't want to leave you... with the expectation that we are going to come home with a triumph," he said in an interview with the Cable News Network. "I would be misleading you and your viewers if I told you a quote deal was in the works."
Holbrooke told reporters earlier that his four hours of "confidential negotiations" with Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic in Belgrade were "inconclusive" but he planned to resume talks in Sarajevo and Belgrade on Thursday. He later met Croatian President Franjo Tudjman in Zagreb. He declined to give details of the main topic of the discussions -- Karadzic's future -- but reiterated the Western belief that the Bosnian Serbs were defying the Dayton accords. "There is non-compliance on the part of some of the parties (in Bosnia). In our view the non-compliance by the Bosnian Serbs is extremely serious and cannot be tolerated," he told reporters in Zagreb.
The Organisation for Security and Cooperation (OSCE), which is overseeing post-war elections, says it will bar Karadzic's hardline Serb Democratic Party from the polls unless the Bosnian Serb leader, an indicted war criminal, leaves the public stage. The OSCE postponed the start of the election campaign until this Friday, saying Karadzic had first to quit power as "president" or party chief.
Holbrooke said Washington backed the warning from the top international official supervising the Bosnia elections, Robert Frowick. "The United States strongly supports that action," he said. "Frowick is in Moscow now talking to Russian officials to make sure the Russians understand this as well." Holbrooke said it was the responsibility of Milosevic, widely regarded as the Bosnian Serbs' main sponsor during the Bosnian war, to honour his commitments under the Dayton accords to depose Karadzic.
Holbrooke said reimposing sanctions on the Bosnian Serbs and Serbia remained an option if Milosevic failed to deliver Karadzic. But he mentioned no deadline for the possible reimposition of sanctions and said the OSCE's warning against the SDS was of "equal importance."
He acknowledged Bosnia was now effectively divided in two parts -- the Croat-Muslim federation and the Serb entity -- but he said elections would begin a process of reunification. "The Dayton agreement created a structure to hold these parts together," he said. "That structure will be created by the election of Croat, Muslim and Serb members of the presidency and the national assembly for the whole country. No elections means partition." |
ZAGREB, July 17 (Reuters) - U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke, architect of the Dayton peace accords for Bosnia, said on
Wednesday his current talks with Balkan leaders were unlikely to lead to the prompt removal of indicted war criminals from power.
Dayton forbids any individual indicted for war crimes including Karadzic, from holding public office or participating in the elections scheduled for September 14. Diplomats regard Holbrooke as one of the few mediators capable of negotiating and bullying the rival Bosnian powers into line with the Dayton agreement.
Berserkistan, July 17 · Holbrooke Urges Milosevic to Surrender Radovan Karadic
Berserkistan, July 16 · Izetbegovic Warns Holbrooke of Bosnian Election Boycott
Berserkistan, July 16 · Holbrooke in Bosnia to Seek Karadzic’s Removal
Berserkistan, July 16 · Holbrooke Pulls No Punches Responding to Serb Threats
Berserkistan, July 16 · Holbrooke, ‘Kissinger of the Balkans,’ Returns to Sarajevo
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