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Karadzic in Political Showdown With Mayor of Banja Luka
By Jovan Kovacic
"Things are coming to a head. Karadzic can wait no longer and he will move against Radic within days," a Banja Luka
source told Reuterss.
Pre-empting Western moves to groom Banja Luka politicians as alternatives to the hardline group around Karadzic, the Bosnian Serb "president" last month sacked pro-peace prime minister Rajko Kasagic and replaced him with a hardline loyalist.
Radic, who enjoys more popularity in the region than Karadzic, resigned last week from the ruling Serbian Democratic
Party (SDS) and formed his own opposition coalition for the mid-September elections. "The SDS is going to try to sack Radic as mayor, but it will not be easy," the Banja Luka source said. "The SDS wields a majority but Radic is very popular so it will be a litmus test of Karadzic's control of party rank and file. The source said some 70 percent of the Bosnian Serb voting body is in the northern area of which Banja Luka is the centre.
"He who wins the votes of the soldiers and refugees will win the elections (in the Bosnian Serb half of Bosnia)," the source said. Karadzic controls eastern Bosnia but is considerably less popular in the north where he is blamed for the loss of western Bosnia to a Muslim-Croat offensive in 1995.
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SARAJEVO, June 19 (Reuters) - Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, trying to retain power despite U.N. war crimes
charges, has upped the stakes in his struggle against rivals ahead of Bosnian elections, political analysts said on
Wednesday. He has mounted an open challenge to opponents, led in the northern town of Banja Luka by mayor Predrag Radic, who favour cooperation with the Bosnian peace agreement.
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