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Contact Group Vows to Oust, Try Karadzic
‘The transfer of his state functions was a first step.
Senior officials from the governments of Britain, Germany, France, the United States and Russia reviewed various ways of stripping Karadzic of influence ahead of elections in Bosnia scheduled for September 14.
"They want to make sure that the different levers Karadzic might try to manipulate are removed from him," a British official said after the meeting.
Under international pressure, Karadzic, an indicted war criminal, transferred his powers last week to his deputy, Biljana Plavsic. But he hung on to his title and also retained the influential post of chairman of the ruling Serb Democratic Union (SDS) party for the next four years, thus cementing his influence over Serb police, media and the army. In a step seen by Contact Group officials as a means for Karadzic to entrench his power, the Bosnian Serb parliament voted on Tuesday to establish a 55-member senate appointed by the president who would also chair the authority.
"It is important to continue to marginalise Karadzic. The transfer of his state functions was a first step. But he must also be removed from power and influence. The meeting discussed proposals to bring this about," said a Foreign Office statement. One idea discussed was how to reduce Karadzic's access to the Bosnian Serb media, especially television. "There have been achievements, but there was very much a recognition that more needs to be done," the British official said. "It's a question of how to keep closing the vice until it's jammed tightly shut."
The Contact Group representatives, who were joined by mediator Carl Bildt, the international community's High Representative in Bosnia, will put their proposals to ministers.
Wednesday's meeting also discussed ways of forcing Bosnian Serb compliance with the requirement in last December's Dayton peace agreement, which ended 43 months of fighting in Bosnia, that all individuals indicted for war crimes be removed from public office and handed over to a U.N. tribunal at The Hague.
"All agreed that, as Karadzic has been indicted for war crimes, his place is in The Hague. The prime responsibility for getting him there rests with the parties. The Contact Group and the High Representative are continuing to press Pale (the Bosnian Serb stronghold) and Belgrade on this," the Foreign Office said. Bildt has the option, given him under the authority of the United Nations, to reimpose international sanctions against the Bosnian Serbs in the event of non-compliance with Dayton.
The Contact Group also discussed a British proposal for a less extreme, graduated response including a squeeze on international reconstruction aid, British officials said. |
LONDON, July 10 (Reuters) - The five-nation "Contact Group" agreed on Wednesday to redouble efforts to oust Bosnian Serb President Radovan Karadzic from political life and put him before an international war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
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