U.N. Prosecutor Seeks War Criminals
U.N. war crimes prosecutor Carla Del Ponte said Thursday she wanted results, in the form of suspects transferred to the Hague tribunal, now that Yugoslavia has passed a law on cooperation with the court.
Del Ponte, on a visit to Belgrade, also said she hoped most fugitives would heed a call by the Yugoslav government on Wednesday to agree to surrender within the next three days.
"We are now expecting the first results of the application of the law and of the decision that there is now three days for voluntary surrender," Del Ponte said after talks with Yugoslav Justice Minister Savo Markovic.
Under financial pressure from the United States, Yugoslavia passed a law last week regulating cooperation with the tribunal and setting out a procedure for the handover of suspects.
Former Serbian Interior Minister Vlajko Stojiljkovic fatally shot himself on the steps of the parliament just hours after the law was adopted, underscoring the passions the tribunal arouses among many Serbs who believe it is biased against them.
The government, dominated by reformers who ousted accused war criminal Slobodan Milosevic as Yugoslav president in 2000, published a list of 23 suspects wanted by the tribunal along with its appeal for surrender.
Two Milosevic associates indicted with the former president over mass killings and expulsions of Kosovo Albanians are widely considered the most likely candidates for early handovers.
The list of war crimes suspects includes two of the world's most wanted men, Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic and his military chief Ratko Mladic. Neither, however, has shown any readiness to surrender and their whereabouts are not publicly known.
Others on the list of war crimes suspects include Nikola Sainovic, the deputy prime minister under former President Slobodan Milosevic; Gen. Dragoljub Ojdanic, the former Yugoslav army commander and Milan Milutinovic, Serbia's figurehead president.
Del Ponte said she had discussed the case of Mladic, who is believed to spend at least some of his time in Yugoslavia, with Markovic but would not give any details.
"Let's have Mladic transferred to The Hague and after that we can talk about it," she said.
In Sarajevo Thursday, the U.S. State Department's ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues said Washington was committed to bringing Karadzic and Mladic to justice and the tribunal would not close until that task had been accomplished.
"We will continue to use our rewards program and offer up to $5 million to anyone who has information as to their whereabouts," Pierre-Richard Prosper said.
"We are also prepared to offer relocation for any person and their immediate family who is willing to provide assistance in this regard," he said after meeting members of Bosnia's three-man presidency.