Serbia Says It Will No Longer Harbor War Crimes Suspects
Serbia pledged Thursday to expel or extradite non-Yugoslavs sought by the U.N. war crimes tribunal, meaning the Yugoslav republic may no longer be a haven for suspects from Bosnia and Croatia.
The policy change by Serbia will have no impact on the status of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic--top Serbian and Yugoslav leaders insist that he must stand trial at home, at least initially, for corruption and crimes related to atrocities in the Serbian province of Kosovo.
Without mentioning Milosevic, Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic said Thursday that investigations against Yugoslav citizens suspected of war crimes would be launched “in a matter of days.”
The policy change came as chief U.N. prosecutor Carla del Ponte met with the leadership in Montenegro, the smaller republic remaining in the Yugoslav federation with Serbia. Montenegro repeated an earlier promise to cooperate with the tribunal, located in The Hague.
Besides Milosevic and some of his cronies, several other top war crimes suspects are thought to live in Serbia--including Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb general under indictment for atrocities during the 1992-95 war in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
