 |
Most Powerful Man in the Balkans Faces an Uncomfortable Choice
Serbia’s President Milosevic faces the possibility of sanctions,
or hearing himself implicated by Karadic and Mladic at the War Crimes Tribunal.
By Dusan Stojanovic
Karadzic is wanted by the international war crimes tribunal in The Hague on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity for his role in Bosnia’s 3½-year war. The Bosnian Serb leader has defied U.S. and European efforts to force him out of power. Though he has turned over duties as president of his shadow state to a hawkish aide, he has refused demands that he also relinquish his party leadership.
So the United States has gone to Milosevic, who once considered Karadzic his protege, for help. That puts Milosevic in an uncomfortable spot.
The United Nations slapped economic sanctions on Yugoslavia in May 1992 as punishment for Milosevic’s role in inspiring the Bosnian Serb rebellion with his nationalist rhetoric months earlier. Milosevic’s Serbian republic dominates what remains of Yugoslavia. The sanctions were lifted last fall when the Dayton peace accord was put in place, but diplomats have suggested that the United States may threaten Milosevic with a reimposition of sanctions if he doesn’t help remove Karadzic.
But if Milosevic does turn over Karadzic -- and international officials insist that the Bosnian Serb leader face trial in The Hague -- he faces another set of problems. On the stand, Karadzic could reveal Milosevic’s role in the Bosnian war -- a factor that one authoritative Belgrade weekly said is now the key issue. Serb leaders, said columnist Stevan Niksic, will do anything "just to avoid the most unpleasant: that their responsibility for past atrocities be questioned." The question, he said, "is burning under their feet in Belgrade."
In addition, Milosevic could face a dangerous backlash among nationalists at home if he turns over Karadzic. If he cannot find a way to sideline Karadzic without turning him over to the war crimes tribunal, Milosevic might see renewed economic sanctions as the lesser evil.
The two met for four hours Wednesday. Holbrooke said the talks were "inconclusive and in progress" and that he would return Thursday after consultations with Washington and with Croatia’s president, Franjo Tudjman. There was no word from Milosevic after the meeting, and Holbrooke said he could not predict what the Serbian president would do. "President Milosevic understands our position and determination," Holbrooke said. "He has to decide what he’s going to do."
If Milosevic decides to oust Karadzic, he could probably do it.
Bosnian Serbs are angry with him for signing the Dayton agreement on their behalf, over their objections. But Milosevic still maintains a powerful security force that pressured Bosnian Serbs into releasing U.N. hostages last year.
The Bosnian Serbs, meanwhile, have been "putting out the word" that if NATO peacekeepers move against war crimes suspects, including Karadzic, they may begin abducting some of the hundreds of U.N. police in Bosnia, State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns said in Washington. Burns said that was an "outrageous attempt to intimidate that will not succeed." And if the rebel Serbs carry out the threat, they are "going to feel the force of IFOR’s retaliation," he said, referring to the NATO force.
Removing Karadzic from power is especially important as campaigning begins for Bosnia’s Sept. 14 elections. Holbrooke said Thursday that the leading Bosnian Serb party, the Serbian Democratic Party, would be banned from the election if Karadzic doesn’t resign as its leader. If the Serb party is banned, Bosnian Serbs say they will boycott the vote. Bosnian government officials, meanwhile, say they will boycott the ballot if Karadzic is allowed to stay on.
Either way, efforts to overcome the bitterness and mistrust of 3½ years of war and to build common institutions will have suffered a serious setback. |
BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (AP) - The most powerful man in the Balkans faces an uncomfortable choice. Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic can hand over the Bosnian Serb leader and watch his own role in the Bosnian war come under international scrutiny. Or he can resist U.S. pressure to do so and risk economic sanctions against his country. International officials want Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic out of power by Friday, when campaigning begins for the Sept. 14 elections that will crown the effort to put Bosnia back together.
In an attempt to persuade Milosevic to turn over the Bosnian Serb leader, President Clinton sent investment banker Richard Holbrooke, who was instrumental in negotiating the Dayton accord, to talk with Milosevic. 
Berserkistan, July 17 · Holbrooke Mission Fails to Remove Karadzic
Berserkistan, July 17 · Holbrooke Urges Milosevic to Surrender Radovan Karadic
Berserkistan, July 17 · NATO Won’t Rule Out Military Action in Capturing Karadzic
Berserkistan, July 16 · Holbrooke Pulls No Punches Responding to Serb Threats
July 16 · Serbs in Doboj Threaten to take UN Police Hostage
Berserkistan is a world news service of
Michael Linder Productions, Inc.
©1996-2014 All Rights Reserved