UN’s Del Ponte expects Mladic handover by October 5

By Emma Thomasson

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Chief U.N. prosecutor Carla del Ponte
expects Belgrade to hand over former Bosnian Serb military
commander Ratko Mladic by the fifth anniversary of Slobodan
Milosevic’s fall from power on October 5.

“The prosecutor expects that Serbia will live up to its
promises given to her during her last visit in Belgrade and
deliver Mladic before that date,” Del Ponte’s spokeswoman said
in a statement on Wednesday.

Del Ponte plans a visit to Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia
on September 29 and 30 on the eve of that anniversary, she
said.

After an opposition campaign of strikes and civil
disobedience following disputed elections in September 2000,
Milosevic was forced to step down as Yugoslav president and was
handed over to the Hague tribunal for trial the following year.

Del Ponte’s spokeswoman said the prosecutor welcomed recent
calls by the United States, the European Union and NATO for
Mladic and former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic to be in
custody before the 10th anniversary of the Dayton peace deal.

Following NATO air strikes against Bosnian Serbs, Milosevic
joined the presidents of Bosnia and Croatia at Dayton, Ohio on
November 21, 1995 to sign a peace agreement at U.S.-sponsored
talks that ended the civil war that broke out in Bosnia in
1992.

“All these calls are important as they recall our duties
toward the victims and toward the law. These words are
necessary but useless if concrete actions are not taken at the
same time,” the spokeswoman said.

DEADLINE LOOMS

The spokeswoman reiterated that if Mladic and Karadzic are
not arrested before the end of the year, the tribunal will not
be able to meet the deadline set by the U.N. Security Council
for it to complete all trials by 2008 and close by 2010.

Karadzic and Mladic are indicted for genocide in the 1995
Srebrenica massacre of 8,000 Muslims and the 43-month siege of
Sarajevo that killed 10,000 people.

Del Ponte said earlier this month the EU should not begin
talks in October with Belgrade on an accord that could lead to
EU membership unless Mladic has been handed over.

NATO has expressed hope in recent weeks that Karadzic could
soon be caught, while speculation has also swirled that Serbian
authorities could be negotiating for Mladic to surrender.

Del Ponte’s spokeswoman said she expected Russia to
transfer former Bosnian Serb military policemen Dragan
Zelenovic to the tribunal soon. He is wanted for atrocities
committed by Serb forces in Bosnia and was arrested in Russia
last month.

Sredoje Lukic, a Bosnian Serb former policeman accused of
crimes against humanity who surrendered to Bosnian Serb
authorities late on Tuesday, should also be transferred to The
Hague in the coming days, she said.