Capture of Croatian intensifies search for Karadzic and Mladich

CROATIA - The search for the top Bosnian Serb war crimes suspects, Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, was given new impetus in the wake of the arrest of Croatia's most wanted man.

The capture of the former Croatian General Ante Gotovina puts added pressure on Serbia Montenegro and Bosnia Herzegovina to help hunt down the two men accused of some of the worst atrocities of the Balkan wars of the 1990s. Karadzic, the former Bosnian Serb leader, and his general, Mladic, remain at large despite mounting pressure for their surrender to the UN's war crimes tribunal in The Hague.

After Gotovina's arrest, Carla Del Ponte, the UN's chief war crime prosecutor, said in Belgrade: "I'm expecting now Mladic and Karadzic."

The European Commissioner for Enlargement, Olli Rehn, called for a more aggressive policy from Belgrade, saying that its policy of encouraging the voluntary surrender of suspects - which has yielded a number of lower-profile indictees - had reached its limits.

Rehn urged governments in Serbia and Montenegro and in Bosnia to "step up their efforts and continue to work until full co-operation is reached and the remaining indictees, including Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic" are captured. Both countries are susceptible to pressure because they have started negotiations with the EU for a new aid and trade agreement. Del Ponte said she was angry and disappointed by Serbia's failure to arrest the two.

With the help of a well-established network of supporters in the area, Karadzic has proved highly elusive, criss-crossing the porous border between Bosnia's Serb republic and Serbia and Montenegro. The fugitive ex-leader is thought to have stayed one step ahead of his pursuers by keeping constantly on the move through the region's rugged terrain. Mladic is thought to be in hiding in Serbia itself.

- INDEPENDENT