By Reuters Tuesday February 21 2006. 5.18pm
>>
Top Bosnian Serb war crimes fugitive General Ratko Mladic has been arrested, the official Serbian news agency Tanjug on Tuesday quoted a local television station in Bosnia’s Serb Republic as saying.
It said TV BN reported that the wartime Bosnian Serb Army commander had been taken into custody in the Serbian capital Belgrade and was being transferred via the northeast Bosnia city of Tuzla to the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
There was no official confirmation of the report.
An earlier report by Belgrade’s “Studio B” television said Mladic had been located “in the area of Tuzla”, which lies close to the mountainous border with Serbia.
Madic was indicted in 1995 for genocide for the 43-month siege of Sarajevo which claimed 12,000 lives and for orchestrating the 1995 massacre of some 8,000 Muslims at Srebrenica, the worst atrocity in Europe since World War Two.
Serbian newspapers were full of speculation on Tuesday that Mladic could soon be on a plane to The Hague, in time to avert suspension of European Union association talks with Belgrade.
Reports spoke of intense efforts by Belgrade to deliver the 63-year-old general to the United Nations court before the end of February, either by arresting him or negotiating a surrender.
This is the deadline for a report by EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn to the 25 EU foreign ministers assessing whether Serbia is cooperating fully with the U.N. tribunal.
Vladeta Jankovic, adviser to Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, said efforts to find Mladic were “in full swing”. He said he had no information Mladic had been found and denied the prime minister had promised a deadline for a handover.
“The government is aware of the consequences,” he told B92 radio. “It might be a decisive moment, not only for the survival of the government, but for the future prospects of the state.”
Mladic’s handover was “almost a condition of survival”.
Belgrade is desperate to avoid suspension of Stabilisation and Association pact talks begun last year. They are the first step to eventual EU membership -- Serbia’s top priority -- and Brussels has warned they will stop if Mladic is not arrested.
Reports predicting his imminent arrest or detailing official efforts to track him down intensify each time Serbia faces a Western deadline for action, although Serbia constantly protests that it has no evidence he is even in the country.
On Tuesday, the daily Blic quoted former state security chief Goran Petrovic as saying the state was giving former Bosnian Serb Army commander Mladic ten more days to surrender.
“Talks on Mladic’s surrender are in their final phase. About 10 days are left for his handover and they are now looking for an appropriate scenario for his surrender,” Petrovic said. He said the authorities were in constant contact with Mladic.
He lived openly in Belgrade until the fall of nationalist strongman Slobodan Milosevic in 2000 undermined his support. Chief tribunal prosecutor Carla Del Ponte has repeatedly charged that he is still protected by hardline elements in the Army and security agencies of Serbia.
Serbian Human Rights Minister Rasim Ljajic said it would be a good time to extradite Mladic, who is still regarded as a hero-soldier by staunch nationalists opposed to his arrest.
“The latest polls show 57 percent of citizens are in favour of this option. This is the largest percentage so far, much higher than in 2005 let alone 2004, “ Ljajic said.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
8 comments:
I hope not,
I like to see Serbs protecting them, and showing the world their true face. Nation of barbaric criminal savages.
"Genocide and massacres are not war at all, they are criminal."
Wasn't Ivan who was all proud of the Chetniks? It makes me sick. My best guess is Mladic is still at large, these are reports, some are confirming some are not. The faster we catch this guy the faster people will sleep at night.
So to Serbs who see Mladic is a filthy criminal I have a question. Since when did you start to oppose Mladic, did you do something about it, like try getting Sesheli as president? (Not Sarcasm)
Guys,
it seems like he hasnt been caught after all. those were only speculations. probably released by Belgrade. and the coincidence with the talks was interesting :)
anyway, Belgrade is pathetic. i have always had the conviction that Bg doesnt care about Kosovo Serbs. but now I am also convinced that official Bg doesnt even care about Serbs in Serbia.
cheers
Illyrianboy
"Now I will have to quote dardania:"
Don't steal sayings that aren't yours. You're trying to steal Kosova, stealing sayings will not be acceptable.
Mir, I'm happy for you that you will die as a Yugoslav. One thing I'd recommend is checking yourself in a clinic. Or maybe you just have aspirations of Greater Serbia. Good for you keep it up.
I'm sure Mladic, Sloboda, Shesheli..etc feel the same. Like I said before, hitler would be proud.
hitler was ur ally asswipe. why do the albaniacs care about mladic??? why dont u hand over those ugly neanderthal looking albanian savages that killed thousands of innocen serbs in kosovo???? a land tht was never yours and that u are stealing?? theives, just like all ur mothers and fathers when they steal stuff fom the buildings tehy clean at night. my garbage man at work is a neandeerthal albo who picks up my garbage just like the albos in Yugoslavia used to do.
11:32,
It must suck for ugly Neanderthal Albanians to outsmart Anthropologically Modern Serbs. This is the only case this has happenned as far as I know. When you give it a second thought, you understand through what pain Serbs are going now. We'll be by your side Serbs as you contract to the Pasallyk of Belgrade.
One Serb slut over at Serbianna broke into tears how America has got it all wrong. Artemije's personal friends had to drive him to the meeting to meet some lower-level officials from the American admin. :). Sad, sad, sad! Commentator ended up hopeful by finding a three paragraph news source from November that says there is disagreement in Europe over what to do. That's so November 2005.
I still have one question. How come Serb women so fall for Albanian men? Why go to Brazil when Serbia is right there. All of you can help Serbia's economy pick up speed.
Hey Ivan chill man it’s not our fault that serbian women have hots for us :)
I don’t want to go and show of but I personally tried few even here in London where I live, the funny thing is that when it comes to sex all your women don’t care about the political issues that we have I'd love to see a serbian women rule your government for once I bet that would peace and love in whole of Balkans.
An just a hint the movie "Sterslen" maybe rings the bell even though the rest of the movie its all bullshit but I will never forget this was 12 years ago as far as I can remember I went to see this movie is cinema in Mitrovica and there where only few of us in there (Albanians) the rest where all serbs and half of them where your special police forces so to get to the point I will never forget the scene when the albanian guy gives the shag of her life to that serbian woman the whole cinema went mad police even took their guns out shouting and swearing in your language and even threatening that they where gonna shoot the "Albanian" actor but than I guess they realised they cant shoot someone in the film :)
So chill Ivan after all we love our girls so we'll leave yours to guys :)
Peace
"I was referring to the real Yugoslavia not Serbia. "
That would be like saying, "no I don't want a greater Albanian, I want a Greater Kosova. You know you want to take over everything, it's in your blood. Nothing will stand in your way, you'll start massacres, a world war, or better yet genocides just to achieve GREATER SERBIA...I keep telling you, stop telling people bedtime stories, you are history.
Post a Comment