 |
G7 Summit Tells Karadzic to Quit or Face Sanctions
By Nicholas Doughty
Their patience with the defiant Karadzic finally at an end, leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) rich industrialised nations -- the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Britain, Japan, Canada -- joined forces with Russia to deliver the ultimatum.
"I want Mr Karadzic...to understand there are limits to his outrageous behaviour," President Jacques Chirac, hosting the Lyon summit, told a news conference. Germany, Britain and others said they now expected Karadzic, indicted by the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague, to quit in the next few days.
Western allies also praised Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin's cooperation on Bosnia at the summit. Moscow has been more sympathetic to the Serbs in the Yugoslav conflict than the Western allies, which has caused frequent rows in the past.
Karadzic was re-elected as party leader by the Bosnian Serbs' ruling Democratic Party (SDS) earlier on Saturday -- a position which the international community believes he should also quit before the Bosnian elections in September, even if the primary aim is to remove him as president.
The summit statement said Karadzic was violating last November's Dayton peace agreement by remaining in office. "We insist that Mr Karadzic step down immediately and permanently from all public functions and take no part in governmental decisions...We are ready to consider the application of sanctions instruments to any party to the peace agreement," the summit statement said.
Italian Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini said Karadzic had to be "removed not only from official positions but also from any presence that could influence politics and the elections."
Diplomats said sanctions lifted following the peace agreement could be reimposed on the Bosnian Serbs and possibly on Serbia, if Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic relaxed the pressure on his former protege Karadzic. German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel said he hoped the pressure on Karadzic would pay off this weekend.
British Prime Minister John Major said sanctions would first be reimposed on the Bosnian Serbs and could then be extended to Serbia if Karadzic was not removed from power. "By 'remove him' I emphatically do not just mean remove his name but leave his influence. We are concerned with removing his name and his influence," Major said.
International peace coordinator Carl Bildt, who has set a deadline of Monday for Karadzic's departure, also said he thought the pressure would now pay off. "A strong message has now been sent...and that includes the element of sanctions. I think we are in the process of marginalising him," Bildt told Reuterss Television.
The United States welcomed the ultimatum. "Karadzic should be out of power, out of influence and in The Hague," said State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns.
In addition, the summit said the economic reconstruction of Bosnia should be stepped up, calling on countries which have promised millions of dollars to deliver at least half of it by the end of this year and the rest by June 1997.
Bildt and the commander of the NATO-led peace force in Bosnia can recommend that all sanctions lifted after last year's peace deal be reimposed on both the Bosnian Serbs and the rump Yugoslav state, comprising Serbia and Montenegro. The summit statement said G7 nations and Russia "will, as necessary, act following their recommendations."
It said post-war reconstruction aid for the Bosnian Serbs would be able to flow only when a new leadership was ready to cooperate with the international community.
The Lyon statement on Bosnia urged international support for the elections set for September 14 and said the NATO peace force should help create "a safe and secure environment."
|
LYON, France, June 29 (Reuters) - Major powers told hardline Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic on Saturday to quit immediately and said they were ready to impose sanctions on his people or on any party violating the Bosnian peace agreement.
Berserkistan, June 29 · Karadzic Wins Re-election as SDS Party Chief
Berserkistan, June 28 · G7 Nations Discussing Karadzic Sanctions Today
Berserkistan, June 28 · Bosnian Serbs Told to ‘Break from False Leaders’
Berserkistan, June 27 · Bildt Refuses Karadzic Face-Saving Pleas
Berserkistan, June 26 · Karadzic Threatens to Bring Down Serbia
Berserkistan, June 26 · Karadzic is Still a Hero to Many Serbs
The Indictment Against Radovan Karadzic and Gen. Ratko Mladic War Crimes Tribunal
THE GROUP OF SEVEN
G-7 Information
G-7 Live Homepage
G-7 Live Homepage Part II
Berserkistan is the world news service of
Pacific Interactive Media Corp.
EMail Berserkistan
©1995-1996, All Rights Reserved