http://news.ft.com/ft/gx.cgi/ftc?pagename=View&c=Article&cid=FT3OG8DE6CC&live=true&tagid=ZZZAFZAVA0C&subheading=europe Nato berated over Karadzic By Ruth Sullivan Published: August 21 2000 17:56GMT | Last Updated: August 21 2000 20:22GMT Carla del Ponte, the chief prosecutor of the UN's international criminal tribunal for former Yugoslavia, has expressed her growing frustration over the failure of Nato forces in Bosnia to arrest Radovan Karadzic, the Bosnian Serb leader who has been indicted on war crimes charges. However, in an interview, Ms del Ponte did not attribute Nato's failure to apprehend Mr Karadzic to a lack of political will. Instead, she blamed a "lack of communication" between French and US units of the Nato-led multinational force in Bosnia. The 53-year-old Swiss prosecutor also questioned the commitment of US forces to the pursuit of indicted war criminals. "The Americans want zero risk, which is impossible if you want to arrest a criminal". But she said she remained optimistic she would have one or two of the three top-echelon criminals in her detention cells in The Hague in the next 12 months. The chief prosecutor noted some positive changes which had occurred in the year that she has been at the tribunal. Despite the failure to arrest Mr Karadzic or Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb general, she argued there was now more evidence of Nato's political will to bring leading indictees to trial. "When I started I was not sure there was the political will, but now I am certain there is." Ms del Ponte argued that the arrest in April of Momcilo Krajisnik, Mr Karadzic's right-hand man and the highest-ranking war crimes suspect detained so far, brought a feeling that the net was tightening, which had also increased the tribunal's credibility. Not everyone agrees with her. Some observers in Bosnia say that Nato has not yet issued ground forces with the order to arrest Mr Karadzic, saying this demonstrates a clear lack of any real political intention to bring top criminals to justice. James Lyon, head of the Sarajevo office of the International Crisis Group, an independent monitoring group, believes that Nato is constantly aware of Mr Karadzic's whereabouts. Fear of a backlash from Bosnian Serbs, which would break the fragile peace, if prime arrests were made is a deterrent. Beyond Bosnia, Ms del Ponte has been encouraged by evidence of a new spirit of co-operation from Croatia following defeat of the nationalist HDZ government at the polls last December . Croatia is currently handing over documents sought by the tribunal relating to its controversial operations Flash and Storm, aimed at taking back areas held by Serb insurgents in 1995. There has, however, been controversy recently in Zagreb over the possibility that Ms del Ponte might be preparing an indictment against Petar Stipetic, head of the Croatian general staff during the operations. Many Croats still regard the action as a war of liberation against Serb aggression. Soon after Ms del Ponte's arrival at the tribunal in September, where she took over from Louise Arbour, a Canadian, the number of arrests increased to one a month. But despite the increase, the tribunal is still facing criticism for the excrutiatingly slow pace of trial and appeal. About 30 indictees are awaiting trial and any arrest made now wi ll take up to two years before the case comes to trial. "We simply have not got enough judges or courts," Ms del Ponte argued, asserting that instead of the current three there should be four of five court chambers at the Hague, with more judges available. To this end the UN has been asked to increase its budget of $100m. Meanwhile, as a reminder of the task in hand, Ms del Ponte's office wall carries a wanted poster put out by the US military offering a $5m reward for the arrest of Mr Karadzic, Genera l Mladic and Slobodan Milosevic, the Yugoslav president. Sceptics have commented that the free-phone number quoted does not work from the Balkans. -- ----------------------- NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ----------------------- ________________________________________________________ 1stUp.com - Free the Web Get your free Internet access at http://www.1stUp.com <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. 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