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President Predicts Failed Elections Unless Radovan Karadzic is Ousted
Izetbegovic said that Karadzic’s removal would be followed by “a swift process of democratization,” and pressed the NATO-led peace implementation force and Milosevic — a Karadzic ally-turned-critic — to help it happen. “That is the precondition for all other conditions,” he said. “Without that condition, we think that this (peace) process will be completely halted.”
OSCE head Flavio Cotti, the Swiss foreign minister, backed up Izetbegovic, saying: “There is no doubt, the presence of indicted war criminals represents a great... obstacle for free and fair elections.” Under the peace accords that ended 43 months of war, about half of Bosnia is under Serb control and the rest under the control of the Muslim-Croat federation. There is also to be a central government that will cover foreign and trade policy. The fall elections are to choose the head of that government.
Karadzic appeared to cave in over the weekend to growing international pressure to step down, reportedly pledging to to top Western officials administering the Bosnian peace accords that he would do so. But on Saturday he handed over the responsibility of dealing with the international community to a hard-line aide, Biljana Plavsic, in an effort to maintain power behind the scenes while appearing to step out of the limelight.
Carl Bildt, the top civilian official in the Bosnian peace process, met late Monday with Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, the region’s main power broker, on “steps ... for successful implementation” of the peace accords, said the Yugoslav news agency Tanjug. The phrasing seemed to be a euphemism to signal that the talks focused on ways to sideline Karadzic. Pressure on Karadzic increased after he ousted a subordinate, Rajko Kasagic, who was a relative moderate favoring good terms with NATO and other organizations implementing the peace accords.
Kasagic, initially defiant, issued a statement Tuesday downplaying his differences with Karadzic. Whether he felt intimidated or was genuinely backing Karadzic was unclear. He said both were united in their determination to maintain a separate Bosnian Serb political and geographic entity and described his ousting as one of a series of “common events” that do not affect Serb unity.
The peace accords, which stopped 43 months of war, call for elections, probably in September. But Izetbegovic said there were “no conditions” for elections, listing lack of freedom of movement, restrictions on the media and Karadzic’s continued hold on power as some of the obstacles to fair voting. The peace accords ban those indicted by the U.N. war crimes tribunal in the Hague, such as Karadzic, from running in the elections. But Karadzic has not ruled out participation. And even if he opts not to run, he would likely try to play a behind-the-scenes role. |
SARAJEVO, May 21 (AP) — Bosnia’s top Muslim politician warned Tuesday that elections planned for the fall were doomed to fail unless Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, an indicted war crimes suspect, was ousted. Alija Izetbegovic, president of the Muslim-dominated government, spoke after meeting with the head of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, charged with staging the Bosnia-wide elections.
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