Mladic still at large, Del Ponte says
Posted on: Wednesday, 22 February 2006, 06:41 CST
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.
Source: REUTERS
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