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Karadzic to Quit as President
But his resignation is seen as only symbolic.
By Jovan Kovacic
But Buha, speaking to an independent Belgrade television station BK TV, called the reports "journalists' speculation." "The presidential candidate and head of the SDS election list will be made public after the SDS congress on June 27 and 28 in Pale," he told the station.
If Karadzic does quit, the departure of the man indicted by the United Nations as a war criminal will be a mainly symbolic victory for U.S.-led Western mediators, who have been calling for his ouster for months. The sources said he would remain the chief powerbroker in the Bosnian Serb republic and was no closer to being surrendered for trial at the U.N. war crimes court in The Hague.
"Karadzic will step down and run the (SDS)," one said.
SDS leaders agreed the reshuffle at a caucus on Friday which also decided Buha would top the party's list of candidates for September elections to rebuild inter-ethnic democracy in Bosnia. There was no official comment on the changes from SDS officials in Pale, the Bosnian Serb government seat outside Sarajevo.
Buha is a Karadzic loyalist who will be a figleaf for SDS hardliners opposed to the Bosnian peace agreement that binds the Serb half of the country with a Muslim-Croat federation in a loose union. The anonymous sources said the SDS leadership was pressured to do something by Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, who had been threatened with renewed international sanctions if Karadzic stayed as Bosnian Serb "president."
A Western diplomat in Sarajevo said: "Buha is a very good choice. He is completely loyal to Karadzic and is not known to have ever overstepped the party line. "Karadzic will say he is relinquishing power to save both the Bosnian Serbs and those in mother Serbia and he stands to become a hero in the eyes of the hardliners ... he will still be calling all the shots."
The Belgrade newsletter VIP, quoting Bosnian Serb sources in Pale, reported that Karadzic would tell the Bosnian Serb parliament his plans on Wednesday. It quoted SDS official Velibor Ostojic as saying the "major personnel changes and extensive replenishment" were expected ahead of the election campaign.
Diplomats in Sarajevo saw no sign of a change in the obstructive SDS attitude to the peace process, which is under stress from all sides. "Karadzic is just the tip of the iceberg. Only if he is handed over to The Hague will others in the leadership start rethinking their policies," one told Reuterss. The hardliners, under threat in the elections from north Bosnian Serb opponents who favour cooperation with the West, have steadily consolidated their grip on power recently.
The Bosnian Serb news agency SRNA reported that parliament speaker Momcilo Krajisnik, the most influential Bosnian Serb politician next to Karadzic, had taken control of state television in readiness for the elections. The SDS will be able to cripple their opponents' election chances by denying them access to radio and television, the main media outlets in the Bosnian Serb republic.
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SARAJEVO, June 23 (Reuters) - Radovan Karadzic, indicted for war crimes, will resign as Bosnian Serb "president" within days but retain power as head of the Serb Democratic Party (SDS) that controls his government, Bosnian Serb sources said on Sunday. The sources, who insisted on anonymity, said the SDS would announce Karadzic's replacement by "foreign minister" Aleksa Buha "sometime this week."
Berserkistan, June 21 · Bildt: World Will Bar Karadzic from Elections
Berserkistan, June 21 · EU Nations Condemn Karadzic Candidacy
Berserkistan, June 20 · Defiant Serbs Nominate Karadzic for President
Berserkistan, June 14 · Karadzic May Run for Office
The Indictment Against Radovan Karadzic and Gen. Ratko Mladic War Crimes Tribunal
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