U.S. Seeks Action at NATO Summit to Thwart Karadzic

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright on Monday urged NATO presidents and prime ministers to interrupt briefly their historic process of expanding the alliance and adopt plans to thwart a political comeback in Bosnia by indicted war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic.

Robert Gelbard, the State Department’s chief strategist on Bosnia, flew to Madrid from meetings in Bosnia with Biljana Plavsic, embattled president of the Serbian portion of Bosnia-Herzegovina, to brief President Clinton and other NATO leaders on Karadzic’s attempt to oust her and regain power.

The Atlantic alliance leaders agreed to focus on Bosnia during today’s working lunch, part of meetings expected to result in Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic being invited to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Talking to reporters Monday after a meeting with Spanish Foreign Minister Abel Matutes, Albright called for a coordinated allied effort to intensify the isolation of Karadzic and extend new support to Plavsic. The Bosnian Serb president has emerged as Washington’s best hope for reviving the peace process begun in Dayton, Ohio, in 1995, even though she was handpicked by Karadzic for the presidency of Republika Srpska, as the Serbian-controlled half of Bosnia is called.

“It is our hope that as we discuss Bosnia here in the next couple of days, it will become evident that extralegal activities by Mr. Karadzic and others will be viewed as unacceptable and that there will be support given for Mrs. Plavsic, the duly elected leader of Republika Srpska,” Albright said.

She offered no specifics, although she and other U.S. officials said the first choice was to put pressure on the Serbs through economic means. But she did not rule out more vigorous military action to arrest Karadzic and deliver him to the tribunal in The Hague investigating war crimes that occurred in the former Yugoslav federation.

A senior State Department official said Washington has blocked $800 million in proposed international bank loans to Republika Srpska. He implied that the United States will end its opposition if Plavsic prevails in her power struggle with Karadzic, the former Bosnian Serb president who is technically barred from public office by terms of the Dayton peace accords. Plavsic has dissolved the Karadzic-controlled parliament, but the lawmakers have refused to comply with the edict.

“Economic action is very strong action, especially when it is coordinated,” Albright said.

Both Albright and Defense Secretary William S. Cohen left open the possibility that the NATO-led multinational force in Bosnia might try to seize Karadzic and others indicted for crimes allegedly committed during nearly four years of warfare in Bosnia. But officials said that is not the preferred option.

“We hope that some of these criminals can be brought to justice,” Cohen told reporters during the flight from Washington.

Clinton, talking to reporters before a formal dinner Monday night, agreed that the war crimes tribunal “is an integral part of the Dayton process” that ended the fighting in Bosnia but has failed, so far, to establish a lasting peace.

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“We believe that we have to do more to implement every aspect of Dayton,” the president said.

A senior NATO official agreed that “there is considerable frustration in the international community” that Karadzic remains at large. He said the alliance leaders hope to agree on a plan of action so that the NATO-led military force will not waste the final year of its mandate.