Bosnian Rebels Target of War Crimes Tribunal : Balkans: Karadzic, army commander Mladic being investigated for possible genocide, ‘ethnic cleansing.’

The U.N. war crimes prosecutor, surprising diplomats with his boldness, announced Monday that he is investigating Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and Bosnian Serb army commander Ratko Mladic on suspicion of genocide, murder, rape, torture and “ethnic cleansing” in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The announcement by prosecutor Richard Goldstone, a former South African justice, was welcomed immediately by U.S. Ambassador Madeleine Albright, who has been the most outspoken diplomatic supporter of the U.N. War Crimes Tribunal. “We consider this a clear sign about what a very good and tough prosecutor Justice Goldstone is turning out to be,” she said.

But other diplomats and officials wondered privately whether Goldstone’s action will make Bosnia’s protracted and confused peace process even more difficult to navigate. Karadzic and Gen. Mladic might now demand the abolition of the tribunal, set up in 1993 by the Security Council, or at least the clearing of their names before they sign any peace agreement.

There was also a fear that the two might order new harassment of peacekeepers in Bosnia just to teach the United Nations a lesson for Goldstone’s boldness.

Hours after Goldstone’s actions, two men were killed and three other civilians were wounded by mortar shells that landed in the center of Sarajevo. In another incident Monday, Sarajevo’s airport was closed after bullets hit a U.N. plane. The plane left Sarajevo with no reported casualties.

Naming the two Bosnian Serb leaders represents only a first step in the judicial process. If Goldstone accumulates enough evidence against Karadzic and Mladic, he could then seek an indictment from tribunal judges in The Hague. A trial, however, is unlikely, because Karadzic and Mladic are not expected to surrender to the court if indicted. Tribunal rules allow no trial if the defendant is not present.

But an indictment--even if defied--would make Karadzic and Mladic international pariahs unable to travel beyond Serbia and their conquered territory in Bosnia.

In his announcement, Goldstone named a third Bosnian Serb, Mico Stanisic, the former political head of the Bosnian Serb secret police, as a suspect as well.

The prosecutor gave every indication that he plans to seek indictments against all three. He officially classified the trio as suspects in documents filed with the Bosnian government in Sarajevo. These documents asked Bosnia to halt all its legal proceedings against the three so that their cases could be taken up by the tribunal.

“It is a very serious step to ask the courts of any country to hand over their cases to another body, even to an international body such as the tribunal,” Goldstone said. He therefore promised that he would supply the Bosnian courts with “a schedule giving legal and factual information.” This presumably would set down the details of the general charges that he announced Monday.

On those charges, Goldstone said, “My office is currently investigating the question of the responsibility of these prominent individuals for genocide, murder, rape, torture and the forced removal of many thousands of civilians from large parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina.”

In Washington, State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns said the Clinton Administration will continue its contacts with Karadzic and Mladic unless they are convicted of war crimes. But he warned Serbia that it must cooperate with the tribunal if it hopes to escape diplomatic isolation.

Under Goldstone, the tribunal has indicted 22 Bosnian Serbs for myriad war crimes. A trial looms for only one, Dusan Tadic, who was arrested in Germany in February, 1994. He was flown by helicopter to The Hague from Germany on Monday and immediately detained there. Tadic, accused of atrocities at a notorious former camp in northwest Bosnia, is expected to stand trial in the summer.

Times staff writer Norman Kempster in Washington contributed to this report.