Mladic still at large, Del Ponte says

THE HAGUE (Reuters) – Chief U.N. War Crimes Prosecutor
Carla del Ponte said on Wednesday that the Belgrade government
has assured her that fugitive Bosnian Serb commander Ratko
Mladic remains at large.

She told a news conference that Mladic was within the reach
of the Serbian authorities and that they must arrest him. She
said no negotiations were underway for his surrender.

“There is no indication at all that negotiations about his
surrender are currently underway,” she said.

Despite official denials by Serbia, rumours have been
swirling since Tuesday that the 63-year-old fugitive was either
under arrest or being talked into surrender to salvage
Belgrade’s membership talks with the European Union.

Mladic was indicted along with his political boss Radovan
Karadzic in 1995 for genocide for the 43-month siege of
Sarajevo, which claimed 12,000 lives, and for orchestrating the
1995 massacre of 8,000 unarmed Muslims at Srebrenica.

The EU decides next week on whether to continue talks with
Belgrade or freeze them as punishment for not arresting Mladic.
His handover is increasingly seen by many Serbs as a necessary
sacrifice, but others view him as a blameless soldier.