August 14, 2003
The Nato-led peacekeeping force in Bosnia said its troops had failed to arrest the fugitive Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic during a raid on his mother's house in Sarajevo yesterday. "This operation did not result in the detention of Ratko Mladic. No military or civilian casualties or injuries were incurred in this operation," the Stabilisation Force (S-For) said. S-For said the raid had been carried out after the former military chief's mother died overnight in her house in the Serb part of the city.
"The operation took place in the vicinity of Kasindo near Sarajevo, at the home of Ratko Mladic's mother," it said.
Stana Mladic, the mother of the Bosnian Serb wartime military commander indicted for genocide in the 1992-5 war, was buried yesterday. S-For said it regretted the timing of the operation but it was "in the best interests of all citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina that S-For fulfils its mandate".
The force extended its condolences to the family, who it said cooperated fully during the operation.
The Bosnian Serb news agency Srna said that Italian S-For troops raided the house at 1pm, backed by 20 combat vehicles and four helicopters. The operation lasted for about 90 minutes.
Ratko Mladic and his wartime president, Radovan Karadzic, both indicted twice for genocide by the UN war crimes court, are widely thought to be hiding in Serbia and eastern Bosnia respectively. S-For failed twice last year to catch Mr Karadzic.
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