US falsely blamed French soldier for Karadzic escape Richard Norton-Taylor, and Jon Henley in Paris
Guardian Saturday March 9, 2002 American military officials deliberately blamed France for sabotaging their attempt to capture Radovan Karadzic, the indicted war criminal, without any evidence to back up the claim, the Guardian can reveal. The former Bosnian Serb leader escaped just before US-coordinated snatch troops raided his hideout in south-eastern Bosnia last week. Within days, the US military was using France as a scapegoat for the embarrassing episode. According to British defence officials and western intelligence sources a telephone message in Serbo-Croat apparently alerting Bosnian Serbs about the mission was intercepted. But they insist there is no evidence that any French soldier serving with S-For peacekeepers in Bosnia was implicated - a direct contradiction of US claims. A well-placed source said the US military, annoyed by the mission's failure, pointed the finger at the French in what he called a mischievous ploy. The French government is furious. Benoit D'Aboville, French ambassador to Nato, said earlier this week that the story was made up as an excuse for the failed operation. Helicopter-borne US soldiers and German peacekeepers with armoured cars had approached the town of Foca, in south-eastern Bosnia, and the nearby village of Celebici, on Thursday and Friday last week, but found Mr Karadzic had already fled. A German newspaper, the Hamburger Abendblatt, quoted Shaun Byrnes, head of the US diplomatic observer mission in Kosovo, as saying: "A French officer revealed the imminent operation." The paper also quoted an unnamed western officer with S-For as saying a French officer had talked with a high-level Bosnian Serb police officer shortly before Nato launched the operation. The paper quotes from a log of mobile phone calls apparently compiled by a western country in S-For. Franz-Josef Hutsch, the German journalist who reported the story, said he received confirmation from one of Mr Karadzic's bodyguards that a warning had been given. The bodyguard, known as Beli Vuk (White Wolf) said Mr Karadzic had fled Celebici in a black Cherokee jeep 45 minutes before Nato forces arrived. Lord Robertson, Nato secretary general, described the report as "pure speculation". Intelligence sources familiar with the intercepts of communications during the operation, yesterday said there was no evidence any such conversation took place. "That's the end of it", an S-For spokesman said. European defence officials say the Americans blamed the French because of "historical baggage" - a reference to past incidents where French officers have spied for the Serbs. http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4371088,00.html Serbian News Network - SNN [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.antic.org/
