Global Policy Forum

By Nedim Dervisbegovic

"But it does show that the capture of Karadzic is very much on NATO's agenda and that before we wind down in Bosnia this remains unfinished business," said the official. NATO-led troops ended a three-day search Monday that failed to net top Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic on what may have been a medical visit to his old stronghold. NATO insisted the operation in Pale -- the first in almost two years after a two-day raid in a remote eastern village at the end of February 2002 -- was a success, saying information gathered would help its hunt in the future. Captain Dave Sullivan, a spokesman for the NATO-led Stabilisation Force (SFOR), said the joint operation with the Bosnian Serb Republic's police ended Monday afternoon. German troops controlling traffic in Pale completely withdrew from the winter spa, some 10 miles southeast of Sarajevo, at about 4 p.m. local time. "This operation was a success," Sullivan said. "We collected valuable information that will support future operations to continue our search for persons indicted for war crimes." The swoop -- in which about 200 U.S., British, Italian, German and Bulgarian troops took part -- started Saturday, triggered by a tip that double genocide indictee Karadzic was injured and had sought medical help in his wartime capital. Acting on information that one of the world's most wanted men had contacted family and supporters, troops searched his wife's house and church and hospital buildings. They said they detained a "supporter," an ex-paramilitary policeman.

But NATO offered no confirmation Karadzic had been in the vicinity -- a high risk, closely watched location within easy reach of NATO forces. Karadzic and his wartime military chief Ratko Mladic were both indicted by the U.N. war crimes court for the 1992-5 siege of Sarajevo and the Srebrenica massacre of 8,000 Muslims. Karadzic is often reported to be hiding in eastern Bosnia. His wife Ljiljana Sunday said it seemed troops who searched her home's septic tank were expecting to catch Karadzic hiding like former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, whom U.S. forces found in a hole in the ground last month A NATO official in Brussels, who asked not to be named, rejected a suggestion that the raid meant a switch in tactics to the more aggressive approach used by U.S. troops in Iraq. "But it does show that the capture of Karadzic is very much on NATO's agenda and that before we wind down in Bosnia this remains unfinished business," said the official. Karadzic had to "be aware that he cannot hope that with the passage of time we will forget about him." Sarajevo-based political analyst Antonio Prlenda said it seemed the alliance had thought they were close. "What I heard is that they monitored his communications and they believed they were close to him. But the question is whether the information arrived in time," he said.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Global Policy Forum distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C íŸ 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.