Mladic, Karadzic remain thorny issues in Bosnian peace accord
June 29, 1996
Web posted at: 6:30 a.m. EDT (1030 GMT)From Correspondent Ralph Begleiter
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United States and its European allies seem increasingly determined to bring two key accused war criminals in Bosnia to justice, even discussing concrete steps to capture and deliver them to the United Nations War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague.
CNN has learned that high-ranking officials in the Clinton administration have recently discussed using a military mission to bring alleged war criminals Radovan Karadzic and Gen. Ratko Mladic to the tribunal.
White House officials deny that such a plan is in the works at this time. But European officials insist that this option is on the table and has been discussed by U.S. National Security Adviser Anthony Lake with Secretary of State Warren Christopher. Lake and Christopher are attending an economic summit in France.
But a White House official insists that strategists are "way short of a commando scenario" to capture the two men. The official indicates that they are floating a "trial balloon."
Christopher is said to support action against Karadzic and Mladic, but fears another mission failure like the Clinton administration's effort to seize a Somali warlord in 1993.
Western officials want to be sure they can succeed if they try to seize the two Bosnian Serbs.
Gen. John Shalikashvili, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Thursday that for the time being, any military mission to capture Karadzic and Mladic is unlikely to succeed.
"My judgment today is those conditions do not exist," said Shalikashvili. "That does not mean that people are not working to create those conditions."
Efforts gather momentum
In Lyon, France, leaders of the seven leading industrial nations and Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin are planning to issue an "ultimatum" this weekend, warning the Bosnian Serb leaders to give up power by July 1 or be forced out.
Bosnia peace coordinator Carl Bildt flew to Lyon to urge the leaders to enforce the peace accord's call for the Bosnian Serb leaders to be sidelined.
Karadzic and Mladic are accused by the tribunal of masterminding some of the worst atrocities during the Bosnian war, including the mass executions of Bosnian Muslims during the fall of Srebrenica one year ago.
Karadzic has repeatedly defied efforts to remove him from Bosnian politics. His nationalist Serbian Democratic Party re-elected him as its president Saturday, the Bosnian Serb news agency SRNA reported. Karadzic ran unopposed, receiving 353 out of 354 votes.
Mladic, too, is still immensely popular among Bosnian Serb troops.
In an effort to nab the duo, international peacekeeping troops in Bosnia are tightening their patrols in the Pale area where the two Serbs are based.
Setting the stage for elections
But CNN has been told that U.S. officials have concluded that Bosnian peace implementation force (IFOR) troops should not be involved in any effort to deliver the two men to The Hague.
Their use could damage the international peacekeepers' neutrality and would require approval from Russia, which has long-standing ties to the Serbs.
But using non-IFOR troops to do the job -- some sources suggest separate French and U.S. forces -- would not have those problems.
G-7 summit leaders want the two men out of the picture soon to allow a relatively free and fair campaign before Bosnian elections, which are scheduled in two months.
"We think whether he's pushed or pulled or walks off the stage himself, it's off the stage he should go," said State Department spokesman Glyn Davies, referring to Karadzic.
Related stories:
- Shalikashvili: Mission to capture Karadzic, Mladic likely to fail - June 27, 1996
- Karadzic will sit out election, Bosnian Serb official reports - June 26, 1996
- Indicted war criminals hard to find; harder to hold - June 20, 1996
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