BELGRADE, July 21 (Reuters) - Bosnian Serb wartime president Radovan Karadzic, one of the world's most wanted men for his part in civilian massacres, has been arrested in Serbia, President Boris Tadic's office said on Monday.
The arrest of Karadzic and other indicted war criminals and their delivery to the Hague war crimes tribunal, is one of the main conditions of Serbian progress towards European Union (EU) membership.
It came on the eve of a meeting of EU Foreign Ministers which is scheduled to discuss closer relations with serbia following the formation of a new pro-western government. A war crimes prosecutor was due to visit Belgrade on Tuesday.
Karadzic's place of hiding has been a constant subject of international speculation since he went underground in 1997. Sources close to the government said Karadzic, distinguished by his characteristic long, grey hair, was arrested in Belgrade.
He was currently undergoing a formal identification rocess, inccluding DNA testing, and would be meeting with investigators overnight.
"Karadzic was located and arrested," the President's statement said. It gave no details.
Karadzic, was leader of the Bosnian Serbs during the 1992-95 Bosnia war. He was indicted by the United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague in July 1995 for authorising the shooting of civilians during the 43-month siege of Sarajevo.
He was indicted for genocide a second time four months later for orchestrating the slaughter of some 8,000 Muslim men after Mladic's forces seized the U.N. "safe area" of Srebrenica in eastern Bosnia.
He went underground in 1997 after losing power.
source: NY Times
13 Comments
my15minutesunavailable? someone yanked your embed after 3 hours?
here's an alternate:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBrNyeSR08Y
kronosposeidonHere's another video for the same story, from Reuters:
http://www.reuters.com/news/video?videoId=87510&videoChannel=1
Now if they could only bag this asshole too.
kulpims^thanks, my15', kp, i changed the embed
jonny^ KP - That's exactly what I was thinking when I heard about this. There are rumors that he died, but who knows. General Mladic was even more loved by many Serbs than Karadic. Old war hero and all that. He's got hundreds, maybe thousands, of potential safe houses. But, yeah, for my money, the general is the guy to get.
It is interesting to think about how this came about, i.e., because the current government is determined to get Serbia into the EU. I wonder if it will set a precedent for other countries. There is some danger in that.
kulpimsthe timing of this is not a coincidence as the newly elected serbian government is eager to please the EU. whether they also extradict general Mladić is something of a litmus paper for Serbia. such an act would be a sign Serbia finaly decided it wants tighter integration with the union and is ready for a more radical change in mentality
kulpimsfootage from todays protests in Belgrade by the ultra-right and football firms against the arrest of Radovan Karadzic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2TJrxd6iwM
NetRunner*news
*worldaffairs
siftbotAdding video to channels (News, Worldaffairs) - requested by NetRunner.
kulpimsapparently Karadzic was posing as an alternative medicine healer in the center of Belgrade
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgUrnFvdqgg
thinker247My Bosnian co-worker told me Karadzic defended his actions, saying that the 8000 people who died had all killed themselves. This is impossibly dubious, of course, but even more so because her father and brother were not the type to kill themselves.
Even if it's a political stunt, it's still an arrest of a war criminal, which is great news. One down, thousands to go.
kulpimshere's his website http://www.psy-help-energy.com/
more here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgUrnFvdqgg
kulpimsmore protests in Belgrade
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u39nt4BUiBc
edit: already in his Hague cell
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pVeN0tI_AA
siftbotThe thumbnail image for this video has been updated - thumbnail added by vaporlock.
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