Vienna - Serbia's arrest of Bosnian war crimes suspect
Radovan Karadzic moves the Balkan nation toward acceptance by the
West, but it also carries risks.
The capture of the man charged with launching genocide in Bosnia
in the 1990s came at a critical point in European Union efforts to
draw Serbia into the EU and promote Balkan stability, a goal shared
by the United States.
Now the question is whether the two-week-old Belgrade government
has the stamina to deliver the two remaining war crimes suspects.
First and foremost, that means former Bosnian Serb general Ratko
Mladic, who supervised the slaughter of thousands of Bosnian Muslims
at Srebrenica in 1995.
EU foreign ministers Tuesday welcomed the Karadzic's arrest after
12 years on the run as 'an important step' and urged Serbia to
'continue on this path.'
At stake is Serbia's pre-membership pact with the EU, which
Brussels says it will approve only if the UN tribunal for war crimes
in former Yugoslavia certifies 'full' Serbian cooperation in bringing
Balkan suspects to justice.
'I think we have to talk to the international prosecutor, and I am
certain that he is going to say there is full cooperation,' EU
foreign policy chief Javier Solana said in Brussels.
But French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner was more cautious.
'We shouldn't jump to conclusions,' said Kouchner, whose country is
chairing the EU. 'Karadzic is under arrest, Mladic is not.'
Mladic and Karadzic, the top wartime Bosnian Serb leader, have
been indicted by The Hague-based tribunal on charges including
genocide for his role in Bosnia's 1992-95 war.
Monday's arrest led to speculation that time is running out for
Mladic, especially since Serbia recently turned over two of his aides
to The Hague, a sign that his once powerful support network is
dwindling.
Dusan Reljic, a Balkans analyst at the German Institute for
International and Security Affairs, forecast that 'things will come
to a conclusion soon.'
Previous Serbian governments have turned over war crimes suspects
to The Hague, including former strongman Slobodan Milosevic, who
backed bloody Serb revolts as Yugoslavia fell apart.
Now, Serbia's new government, led by President Boris Tadic's pro-
European bloc, has set a strikingly ambitious timetable for joining
the EU, which implies cooperation with The Hague. Under the plan,
Serbia would apply to the EU on September 15 and open membership
talks next year.
But Belgrade commentators said Karadzic's arrest could strain the
just-settled governing coalition, which includes the Socialist Party
founded by Milosevic.
Meanwhile, the hardline nationalist opposition in Serbia's
parliament has used procedural moves to stall the pre-membership
Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU.
While polls say 70 per cent of Serbs support joining the EU,
opposition politicians Tuesday denounced the government for arresting
Karadzic and defended him as a patriotic hero.
For many Serbs, the main sentiment was disbelief. 'I thought he
was dead or that he will die in hiding,' said Maja, a 30-year-old
Belgrade woman who declined to give her last name. 'I'm so shocked.'
Karadzic, 63, surprised Serbs with how he looked on a recent photo
released by the authorities, sporting a white mane, long beard and
glasses that made him look like a professor or 19th-century writer.
A trained psychiatrist, he reportedly worked with an alternative
healing group in Belgrade, even giving public lectures.
'His false identity was so convincing,' Serbian war crimes
prosecutor Vladimir Vukcevic said. 'People didn't recognize him.'
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