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NATO and State Dept. Conflict on Status of War Criminal Hunt
Not so, says a NATO spokesman who insisted there’s been no change of policy in Bosnia toward the search for Karadzic or his military commander, Gen. Ratko Mladic. If caught, both will be sent to The Hague for trial. To American statements that NATO troops would now start patrolling Pale, the Bosnian Serbs’ headquarters in the mountains outside Sarajevo, the NATO spokesman noted this had happened for months.
The conflicting comments show a U.S. desire to project a can-do image that NATO forces will solve major problems that threaten to scuttle crucial Bosnian elections set for September.
As the driving force behind the Dayton agreement and major contributor to the NATO mission, the United States has a political investment in ensuring success despite evidence of serious obstacles such as freedom of movement for Bosnia’s ethnic minorities in the runup to the elections. NATO sources and Bosnian officials complain Western politicians want not only to avoid major clashes but any perception of failure, particularly the Americans during a U.S. election year.
Tuesday’s confusion stemmed from comments by Secretary of State Warren Christopher that NATO troops would increase patrols to give them a better chance of nabbing Karadzic, wanted by the Yugoslav tribunal for genocide and other charges related to the 43-month Bosnian war. Nicholas Burns, Christopher’s spokesman, said NATO peacekeepers were extending their patrols for the first time to Pale. He attributed his information to U.S. Gen. George Joulwan, the NATO commander in Europe.
But British Maj. Simon Haselock, a NATO spokesman in Sarajevo, said he was unaware of any increased NATO presence in Pale. Haselock refuted Burns’ statement that the first NATO patrols of Pale would soon begin, saying Italian troops have patrolled the town regularly and a permanent NATO liaison team of four people was based there. Haselock acknowledged that NATO troops would have a more visible presence in Bosnia, but said that was under a previously announced plan to deploy them more broadly than the demilitarized zones they set up along former front lines.
"We’re not going to mount a specific operation" to go after Karadzic, Haselock said. "What they’re talking about is nothing new." The main task of the 50,000 or so NATO troops, including about 16,000 from the United States, would be to keep the former war combatants separated and carry out regular checks of weapons containment areas, Haselock said.
Burns said NATO troops would arrest Karadzic on sight, but that has long been the stated policy for any war crimes suspect. Karadzic and fellow hard-liner Mladic remain free despite recent sightings in Belgrade and in Bosnia. Their influence in Pale and elsewhere in Bosnian Serb territory is considered a major stumbling block to the planned national elections.
NATO has been no stranger in Pale, staging weekly news briefings there until last week when a dispute arose over the venue. Bosnian Serb officials wanted to shift the briefing to a new media center run by Karadzic’s daughter, but NATO refused.
Bosnian leaders say holding successful elections appeared impossible now because of the lack of free movement among the country’s ethnic minorities as well the continued presence of Karadzic and Mladic in the Serb leadership. While people can move freely in some areas, other territory including much of the Bosnian Serb entity, remains off-limits to Bosnian Croats and Muslims. Under the Dayton pact, Bosnia is split between lands held by the Bosnian Serbs and a Croat-Muslim federation.
Various reports Tuesday noted problems in several places, including gangs forcing Serbs out of neighborhoods of Sarajevo and Muslims from villages near Teslic in the Serb-controlled north.
U.N. and NATO officials said some of the harassment was political, but insisted some incidents could be blamed on criminal gangs who knew local authorities would be unlikely to help minority residents. |
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina, June 4 (AP) -- The spin doctors worked overtime Tuesday regarding NATO efforts to capture Bosnian war crime suspects. U.S. officials say NATO forces will step up efforts to catch suspects such as Radovan Karadzic, the Bosnian Serb leader wanted by the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal.
Berserkistan, June 2 · Christopher: Only Talk of Karadzic Trial
Berserkistan, June 2 · Karadzic’s Shadow Looms Large over Geneva
Berserkistan, June 1 · Marginalize Karadzic, Says West
Berserkistan, May 31 · US: Cost Cost of Capturing Karadzic, Mladic Too Great
Berserkistan, May 28 · Serbs Said Deciding Fate of Karadzic, Mladic
Berserkistan, May 20 · The Karadzic Proxy: Biljana Plavsic
Berserkistan, May 20 · Bildt: Karadzic Poisoning Political Atmosphere
Berserkistan, May 20 · Kradzic Shifts Some Duties, but Won't Step Down
The Indictment Against Radovan Karadzic and Gen. Ratko Mladic
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