U.S. Envoy John Kornblum Intensifies
Pressure on Karadzic and Mladic
SARAJEVO, May 7 (AP) — Bosnian Serbs may face renewed economic sanctions if they keep harboring war criminals and blocking freedom of movement, a top U.S. envoy said Monday. “We will be pushing very hard to make sure that this attitude does not continue,” Assistant Secretary of State John Kornblum said. “The international community has a number of ways of making sure that they understand that right.”The international tribunal at The Hague, Netherlands, begins its first war crimes trial Tuesday, but indicted Bosnian Serb leaders Radovan Karadzic and Gen. Ratko Mladic remain free and firmly in control of the 49 percent of Bosnia in Serb hands. International officials are frustrated by stalling on the freedom of movement promised by the Dayton peace agreement. They worry that Karadzic and Mladic will obstruct efforts to pull Bosnia back together, but have been unable to find other Bosnian Serb officials willing or able to replace the two wartime leaders.
Kornblum said his one-day visit to Sarajevo was to prepare for a review of the international peace mission at its halfway point next month. “This is a time when some very important decisions will be taken,” Kornblum said. Kornblum said the international community already is limiting assistance to the Serbs “because of their lack of compliance with Dayton, including the fact that they continue to harbor war criminals such as Karadzic and Mladic.”
The United Nations and Serb-dominated Yugoslavia lifted wartime sanctions against the Serbs in February to reward them for withdrawing weapons from front lines as promised. The two Bosnian Serb leaders operate primarily behind the scenes now and officials of the peace mission refuse to meet with them. But they remain very much in charge, and Bosnian Serb officials insist they will not be turned over to the Hague tribunal.
British soldiers in the NATO-led force recently moved their main base to the Serb stronghold of Banja Luka in northwest Bosnia, the home of moderate Bosnian Serb leaders. The commander of NATO ground forces in Bosnia, Lt. Gen. Sir Michael Walker, also is moving his tactical headquarters to a Serb-held town of Visegrad in eastern Bosnia.
NATO officials deny that the moves have been aimed at limiting the power and mobility of Karadzic and Mladic, but acknowledge it may have that effect. Under the peace accord, members of the NATO-led force are allowed to arrest people indicted for war crimes as they come across them.
Indictment against Radovan Karadzic and Gen. Ratko Mladic
Berserkistan is a world news service of Michael Linder Productions, Inc.
©1995-1996, All Rights Reserved
