World

Serb Gen. Arrested For Genocide

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

December 2, 1998 / 5:22 PM EST / CBS

The international war crimes tribunal is one step closer to the prosecution of Radislav Krstic for the genocide committed in Bosnia, reports CBS News National Security Correspondent David Martin.

Until Wednesday, Radislav Krstic lived openly, still a general in the Bosnian Serb army -- even though he had commanded the troops who committed the most horrendous war crime in Europe since World War II, the massacre of 7,000 Muslims in the town of Srebrenicia.

But a month ago, the war crimes tribunal in The Hague secretly indicted Kristic for having "committed genocide during and after the fall of Srebrenicia," in 1995.

"The indictment against the general was part of a sealed indictment, so no one, not even himself, knew that he was, in fact, the subject of indictment," said NATO spokesman Nicholas Fiorenza.

Tuesday, a little after noon in Bosnia, a team of American commandos surrounded his car and seized Kristic without firing a shot.

Krstic arrived in The Hague on Thursday and was transferred to the tribunal's detention unit. If convicted, he faces life in prison.

The troops under his command first shelled and then took over Srebrencia in July of 1995. They rounded up the Muslims, separated the men and executed them, burying the bodies in mass graves.

Krstic reported to Gen. Radko Mladic -- who is believed to have ordered the massacre -- and to Radovan Karadzic, the political leader of the Bosnian Serbs. Both these men have been indicted for war crimes but are still at large.

Krstic is by far the most important Bosnian war crimes suspect arrested to date.

"The detention of Radislav Krstic stands as a warning to all those indicted for war crimes and still at large. It is hoped that this action will prompt other persons indicted for war crimes to surrender themselves," said Lt. Cmdr. Glenn Chamberlain, of the Bosnia Stabilization Force.

Karadzic remains in hiding in Bosnia and Mladic has fled to Yugoslavia. Krstic is left to answer for the crimes of Srebrenicia and perhaps to provide evidence against the men he took his orders from.