 |
Dole Calls Karadzic Resignation Useless
‘Instead of insisting on the arrest of Karadzic
But State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns said that as a result of the agreement, Karadzic’s political career is effectively over and the possibility of credible national elections on Sept. 14 is greatly enhanced.
After four days of talks in the Balkans, Karadzic signed a statement in which he promised "to withdraw immediately and permanently from all political activities."
"He will not appear in public, or on radio or television or other media or means of communication or participate in any way in the elections," the statement said. Holbrooke’s negotiating partner during four days of talks was Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic.
Holbrooke told Milosevic that failure to deliver Karadzic’s surrender of power could have meant international economic sanctions against Serbia. The Clinton administration had sought Karadzic’s ouster from Bosnian Serb politics ever since the Dayton peace agreement was signed last November. He has been accused by the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, of crimes against humanity.
In a statement, Dole said the resignation is unlikely to lead to a "significant reduction of Karadzic’s authority or influence."
"Instead of insisting on the arrest of Karadzic and (military commander) Ratko Mladic as war criminals, the Clinton administration is accepting the pretense that Karadzic is relinquishing power, when the reality is that he will continue to control the party and the government through puppet leaders," Dole added.
Administration enthusiasm over the agreement was tempered by the fact that Karadzic is still a free man, beyond the reach of the war crimes tribunal. Burns said Secretary of State Warren Christopher "feels very strongly that at some point in the future, he (Karadzic) should be compelled to leave the country and compelled to go to The Hague and stand trial for war crimes."
Robert Frowick, the American heading the international mission that will organize Bosnia’s elections, cautiously termed Karadzic’s removal "a potentially major step forward." Frowick delayed the start of election campaigning from Monday to Friday to increase the pressure on Karadzic. Bosnia’s Muslims had threatened to boycott the elections if Karadzic remained head of the Serbs’ ruling party.
Burns said a major contributing factor to the agreement was Frowick’s threat to bar Karadzic’s party from taking part in the elections unless he surrendered power. That, the State Department spokesman said, would have meant that Karadzic’s party colleagues would have had "to live and serve under others who would be elected on Sept. 14." Another contributing factor, Burns said, was the U.S. threat to reimpose sanctions against Serbia if Milosevic failed to deliver Karadzic’s departure.
He said the threat "had a very big impact on Belgrade." |
WASHINGTON, July 20 (AP) - Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole says Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, a war crimes suspect, didn’t mean it when he signed a U.S.-brokered agreement to surrender his powers. In effect, Dole said Friday, U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke got snookered.
Berserkistan, July 19 · Karadzic Ouster is Partial Victory for Holbrooke
Berserkistan, July 19 · NATO and IFOR Partners Welcome Karadzic Resignation
Berserkistan, July 19 · Bosnian Serbs Pledge to Protect Radovan Karadzic
Berserkistan, July 19 · SDS Tries to Explain Karadzic’s Departure
Berserkistan is a world news service of
Michael Linder Productions, Inc.
©1996-2014 All Rights Reserved