8/13/2008

The End

I am happy to report that since the purpose of this website was fulfilled, I will stop writing here.

It has been an interesting journey on this site since 2004. Although I am thrilled with Karadzic's capture, I will miss writing on this site.

At some point soon I would like to post again and tell you more about myself and who I am, but first I need to scrub the site to see if anything is on here that shouldn't. That may take a while.

Nick Hawton reports he will write a book with his account of his experiences in the hunt for Karadzic. Based on the extent and quality of his reporting, it should be a first-rate project and something to look forward to.

After years of frustration in the hunt for Karadzic, there is a fraternity that will never be broken among those of us who tried to bring this fugitive to justice, spanning journalists, soldiers, lawyers, politicians, and so many others.

Radovan Karadzic, who expended tremendous political will to exterminate Muslims in Bosnia, now sits in confinement awaiting trial. Regardless of the trial results, the purposes of justice will now be served in a way they never could when he was a fugitive.

There are so many lessons to be learned with Karadzic in the hunt for other war criminals, and in other complex international problems. I'm sure that I will be working with many of you again soon.

Goodbye!

Reports of Karadzic's alibi

One fundamental misunderstanding among recent press reports is why NATO forces did not actively hunt Karadzic from 1995 through 1999.

The reason was not because they wanted to honor a deal between Karadzic and Holbrooke.

Instead, they did not hunt any ICTY war criminals because of an overly cautious approach that emphasized maintaining order. IFOR / SFOR were worried that an active pursuit would mobilize either side and lead to a resumption of hostilities.

The result was that NATO forces rule of engagement only allowed detention of a war criminal if they came across them in their normal duties. For example, Karadzic could sit in his house and be safe, and could only be detained if, say, he went through an IFOR roadside check.

7/31/2008

Analysis of Karadzic's Legal Strategy

Karadzic made his first appearance today for an arraignment. He deferred entry of his pleas, and indicated that he would represent himself. He is expected to plead not guilty to all charges.

Karadzic's statements before the court forshadow his litigation strategy:

"According to (the offer from Richard Holbrooke) I had to withdraw from public life, I had to make certain gestures, and in return the U.S.A. would fulfill their commitments. This was on behalf of the United States of America."

"I believe this is very important for my fate and for my legal position. I want to show why I am appearing before this court only now, rather than in '96, '97 or '98, when I had the intention of appearing here, but at that time, I was in danger of being liquidated because I had made a deal that Mr. Holbrooke tried to honor."

"This is a matter of life and death. If Mr. Holbrooke still wants my death, and regrets that there is no death sentence here, I wonder if his arm is long enough to reach me here."

My analysis:

I happen to be a criminal prosecutor when I'm not working on this blog. Karadzic's claim is one of de facto immunity, where an accused asserts that they took action to their detriment in reliance upon a promise not to prosecute them.

Karadzic will be entitled to call Mr. Holbrooke as a witness. He can call other witnesses, if there are any, to try to bolster this claim of a grant of immunity.

The burden is on Karadzic to clearly prove the existence of such an agreeement. When Mr. Holbrooke takes the stand and says that none existed, Karadzic has not met his burden. Based on everything the Karadzic family has talked about regarding Mr. Holbrooke over the last several years, there are no witnesses to this conversation between Holbrooke and Karadzic.

So, Karadzic loses this motion about immunity.

The best thing he could do for himself would be to cobble together a experienced team of criminal defense attorneys to attack the evidence and witnesses on the 11 charges. If not, Karadzic's immunity motion will quickly fail and evidence against Karadzic will be enough to overwhelmingly establish his guilt on most of the charges.

Radovan, 13 Years Later







7/29/2008

The threat of assassination

I worry about the possibility of a major assassination in the next few days. This could target Serbian President Boris Tadic, Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Svetkovic, or even Radovan Karadzic himself.

An assassination is most likely to be orchestrated by former Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica and the former Yugoslav Army, intelligence services, and radical Belgrade football hooligan groups who each share Kostunica's worldview.

The failure to quickly extradite Karadzic to the Hague shows that his arrest wasn't as carefully planned as some have thought. By all accounts it was organized in less than a week. Rasim Ljajic's inaction regarding ICTY coordination is puzzling in this regard.

Keeping Karadzic in Belgrade for over a week would have been like the American military keeping Saddam Hussein in a local Tikrit courthouse for a week after his arrest... absurd!

Karadzic may be killed by his supporters to undermine the West and the ICTY, to cast a veneer of incompetence and illegitimacy on the present Serbian pro-EU government, and to martyr Karadzic with a death on Yugoslav soil.

Get this indictee to The Hague!

7/25/2008

Vienna in 2006, Murder of a Serb, Mystery Healer... Karadzic?

Karadzic as "Dragan Dabic" had a passport and could presumably travel freely by train, car, or air to common destinations from Belgrade.

German weekly Der Spiegel (Newsweek equivalent) has new evidence of Karadzic in Vienna.

Last year after a murder of a Serb in Vienna, several apartments were raided. In one, the police found a person very similar to Karadzic's current appearance, but failed to recognize him.

The paper also claims that Karadzic worked in Vienna under the name of "Pera" performing "miracle healings." One person remembers having been cured by him in 2006 (!) in Vienna.

The Austrian authorities are investigating.

The picture above shows "Pera" with a client.

7/24/2008

What is Liljana going to do?

About Karadzic's new girlfriend? Here's a pic scanned from a German daily.

7/23/2008

Video of Karadzic's alter ego

From British FrictionTV.

Karadzic Reaction

Wow, the public life really caught me by surprise!

When you've written about a subject as often as I have about Karadzic, it's easy to play Nostradamus and pick through past predictions in a way that makes it seem like you knew it all along.

Here's the no-bull bottom line:

Not surprising - the long grey beard, glasses, long hair

Surprising - living in Belgrade, being a minor public figure, losing a lot of weight.

Karadzic's alter ego's commercial website

http://www.psy-help-energy.com/

7/22/2008

Karadzic's website revealed

from Karadzic's newly-discovered website, http://dragandabic.com/:

"Dr. Dragan "David" Dabic was born some 60 years ago in a small Serbian village of Kovaci, near Kraljevo. As a young boy he liked to explore nearby forests and mountains, spending a lot of time on Kopaonik mountain where he tended to pick the omnipresent natural and potent medicinal herbs that grew there. As a young man he moved to Belgrade, and then on to Moscow where he graduated with a Psychiatry degree at the Moscow State University (Lomonosov). After Russia, Dr. Dabic travelled around India and Japan, after which he settled in China where he specialized in alternative medicine, with special emphasis on Chinese herbs. In mid 1990s Dr. Dabic returned back to mother Serbia for good.

"Ever since, Dr. Dabic emerged as one of the most prominent experts in the field of alternative medicine, bioenergy, and macrobiotic diet in the whole of the Balkans, and is frequent guest on many forums, seminars and symposiums (Belgrade, Novi Sad, Pancevo, Sombor, Smederevo...) dedicated to these topics.

"For panel invitations or private consultations Dr. Dragan Dabic can be reached at the following contact: healingwounds @ dragandabic . com"






Thank You

Karadzic's arrest happened with a tip from an unknown foreign intelligence source to Serbian authorities, who then began to monitor and eventually arrest Karadzic.

There are others who, while not directly responsible for his arrest, indirectly contributed so much to his capture. I want to mention three, in no particular order:

1) Carla del Ponte. The Swiss former chief prosecutor of the ICTY was almost solely responsible for the world's attention on Karadzic during the last few years, when he might have otherwise been forgotten. Karadzic was relevant to Serbia, the UN, and the West solely because of her.

2) Nick Hawton. This intelligent, savvy British journalist lead the Balkan beat for the BBC for several years. The world's lifeline as to what was going on with Karadzic is due largely to Nick.

3) Natasha Kandic. This Serbian human rights activist is largely responsible for changed attitudes in Serbia about Karadzic. In 2005, at great personal risk, she released a 1995 video from Srebrenica that corroborated allegations of genocide. Had the Serbian people not been so persuaded, yesterday's arrest may have never garnered the political will to succeed.

Thanks also to the brave men and women who put their lives on the line to make yesterday's arrest.

So many other people who were involved for years with Karadzic and deserve recognition: SM, TF, AL, RG, KJ, YG, RS, MT, JS, JS, FH, LE, Jinx, Shaina and many more who I hope to credit soon.

Finally, a Picture of Karadzic

He was hiding as a Doctor of alternative medicine, going by the name Dragan Dabic.

His appearance is different from the Presidential pictures with his thin frame, long beard, long white hair, and glasses to hide his face.

This picture was shown at a Serbian press conference. No indication that Karadzic is ailed by a bad knee or hip.

More to come.

7/21/2008

How do you pronounce "Karadzic"?

Experienced broadcasters in news agencies around the world are announcing Radovan Karadžić's arrest, but mumble when it comes time to pronunciate his last name.

It is a tough name to pronounce, even as Serbian names go.

The correct pronunciation is: "CAR-ah-djits."

The most popular pronunciation by Americans and Brits is: "kuh-ROD-itch."

The worst pronunciation I've ever heard (from a former Special Forces commander who was in the hunt for a year) is "CARROT-itch."

The Serbian spelling of his name is: "Радован Караџић."

WE GOT HIM!!

I began searching for Radovan Karadzic over six years ago. The day we've all been waiting for came today with the news of Karadzic's arrest in Serbia.

The world is a better place today than it was yesterday. Those of us interested in international criminal justice sometimes grow weary at the unfairness and impunity that are often the end results of the worst misconduct in the world by some of the worst people in the world.

But not today. Radovan Karadzic now will begin the process that will see him face the charges listed in his indictment of instigating genocide and intentionally killing thousands of Muslims in Bosnia between 1992 and 1995.

10/27/2007

Italian Article on Karadzic's Location

My Italian friend found this article in L'Espresso and translated it for me. For whatever reason, Karadzic remains in the public fascination of Europe, while the United States has all but forgotten about him.

In case you are wondering about L'Espresso's point of view on Karadzic, the title of this article is "Where Karadzic the Beast is Hiding!" It is from the September 7th 2007 issue of L'Espresso, written by Mr. Gigi Riva:

Karadzic now has a long beard. He wears the monk’s dress but his physical appearance has not changed: he’s not renounced the grizzled tuft. He is living in the Orthodox monasteries. He frequently moves in 3 different monasteries:

- Trebinje (in Herzegovina);
- Ostrog (in Montenegro);
- Fruska Gora (in Vojvodina, Serbia);

He is accused of genocide, war crimes and murder. For his colleague Mladic the situation is changed when he was stopped by the police and now he is in Belgrade, checked by the Serbian secret police. He’ll be used for negotiations about Kosovo’s future.

Now the international secret service has a lot information about Karadzic. Before, their work was slowed by political interests. The intelligence services lost a lot of time in the past and now 24 hours of work at day are not in enough to catch him.

A NATO general says, “For the first time we have a lot of accurate information about him, the true hunting starts now. In order to understand the reality around this killer we can divide his life in different phases”:

First period:

At the end of the war in Bosnia, Karadzic was wanted. Otherwise he was free in his home of Pale, and during this period he was not disturbed by the Italian soldiers that were responsible for that city. He was protected by his body-guards. In a page of his daughter’s (Sonja) diary we can read these words: "My dad is quiet because he’s made an agreement with Mr. Richard Holbrooke that he won’t be arrested.”

Second period:

Some of the others responsible for genocide such as Bojc moved to the south of Bosnia in the city of Sokolovac, because Pale was not a safe place anymore. During this period Karadzic lived normally without being particularly frightened.

Third period:

Differently from the precedent period the city of Sokolovac became dangerous for their protection. Karadzic thought to go in Belgrade but Bojc advised him against moving to Belgrade because Milosevic would sell him to the Americans. In this period Karadzic reduced the number of his bodyguards for two reasons: the high cost, and the practical reason that a high number of bodyguards is very visible.

During this period he was particularly active and he moved among the border of Serbia Montenegro and Bosnia.

Fourth period:

The intelligence services of the West gathered enough information to suppose that Karadzic has been protected by the Orthodox Church since 2003. There are a wide number of faithfuls who swear that Karadzic is hided in the monastery. They saw him and talked with him!! But if he’ll remain always in a monastery there aren’t conditions to arrest him, because Orthodox Church enjoys extra-territorialities. Only faithfuls can enter.

To understand the reality of Karadzic's personality we need to focus our attention on his family: Karadzic’s wife is Liljana, the sons are Alexander and Sonja. The Karadzic’s family situation worsened after the crash of the Banka Srpsko Sarajevo, that is supposed to be a financial resource for Karadzic and his family. Liljana does not have a real social life, and spends her days at home (the nickname of the house is the Pink house).

The Karadzic’s family says that they don’t have contact with Karadzic, but that is difficult to believe. They don’t communicate by PC or internet but like Provenzano(Italian Mafia boss) they use simple paper with codes.

Most of this represents conventional wisdom on Karadzic, but it is great to see it memorialized in a major publication.

9/30/2007

What are the chances that Karadzic is now in Russia?

40%, in my opinion. If he is in Russia, he is probably comfortable under the sponsorship of Eduard Limonov and the National Bolshevik Party.

After being imprisoned in 2002 for smuggling arms, Limonov in Russia now enjoys greater power and a surge of support as what will be the principle Communist opposition to whoever ends up as Vladimir Putin's handpicked successor.

Limonov has comfortable villas in and around Moscow that would suit Karadzic and allow him to enjoy several fugitive years in greater comforts than Republika Srpska hamlets would allow.

Most importantly, remember the strong bond between these two men. Limonov loves his literature and poetry, including types that - like Karadzic - are heavily allegorical, snarly, and often delusional. Both are fierce Slavophiles, despite Limonov's recent inexplicable embrace of Islam and Russian Muslims.

Karadzic and Limonov have been close personal friends since meeting in Sarajevo over poetry and sniper rifles in 1995. Now, it appears that Limonov is the only best friend that Karadzic has.

7/20/2007

Finally... Trailer Released to New Karadzic Movie

Greetings everyone, it's good to be back with you. In the five months since I've last posted, the blog has turned three years old, the hunt for Karadzic remains mired as a backdrop to other regional issues, and the trailer to the new Karadzic movie has been released.

Originally called "Spring Break in Bosnia," the new film by visionary director Richard Shepherd is now called "The Hunting Party."

Check out the trailer of Terrance Howard, Richard Gere and crew hunting "The Fox," who, as any reader of this blog would know, is really Radovan Karadzic.

When We Almost Had Him

Thanks to Finding Karadzic reader Graeme for passing this interesting article along.

SFOR fears Karadžic’s bodyguards
Author: Monitor (Podgorica)Uploaded: Monday, 09 July, 2007

Commenting on the recent arrest of Vlastimir Ðordevic wanted by The Hague, the independent Montenegrin weekly Monitor points out that the same police force on a number of occasions held in its grasp also Radovan Karadžic and Rako Mladic, but let them go.

[In Karadžić’s case] the spectacular action took place on 11 May 1996, when the Serb Orthodox Church organised a procession of relics of St Basil of Ostrog. Radovan Karadžić took part in the subsequent all-night vigil. In the early hours of the morning the RS police informed Karadžić that SFOR was waiting for him at Tjentište, in the valley of the Sutjeska. Germans, Americans and Spaniards were waiting in ambush. Those present were seized with panic. They suggested that Karadžić be bundled into an ambulance car and transferred to safety. Karadžić refused. He ordered his bodyguards to take him to the border.

According to Karadžić’s former bodyguard Vlado Ilić, speaking to the Belgrade media: ‘Not wishing to risk anything, we decided to cross into Montenegro by way of Gacko. We asked permission to enter from the highest authorities in the Montenegrin police and government - which they refused to give. We nevertheless crossed into Montenegro. We drove along the shorter mountain roads. The Montenegrin police sent helicopters. The special unit of the ministry of the interior also went into action. They started to hunt us across Durmitor and Žabljak. They caught us just before Pljevlje and kept us the whole day. Then they released us.’

Asked why the Montenegrin police had released Radovan Karadžić, a former high official of the Montenegrin ministry of the interior replied: ‘Karadžić was trapped. It was a stand-off between our Specials and Karadžić’s armed guards. Long and difficult negotiations followed. The Montenegrin political leaders considered the situation and decided that NATO preferred our boys to get killed arresting Karadžić rather than their own. After much thought they decided to let him go.’ The politicians in question were President Momir Bulatović and Prime Minister Milo Đukanović. The minister of the interior was Filip Vujanović and the head of the state security service Vukašin Maraš.

The Montenegrin police had a close encounter with Ratko Mladić too. In mid June 1997 Mladić visited the Montenegrin coast for a holiday. The general’s summer idyl was spoiled, however, by the Podgorica news agency Montena-fax, which released the news that he was relaxing in Rijeka Kneževića surrounded by fifteen bodyguards. The Montenegrin prime minister, Milo Dukanović, was then asked by the US administration to arrest the general. Đukanović sent in the police. Goran Žugić, born in Tuzla, who had recently left the Bosnian and joined the Montenegrin police, talked to Mladić. He politely asked him to leave Montenegro. But the general had no desire to turn back. He had been only eight days in Montenegro and planned to stay the whole month.

According to the Belgrade paper Dnevni telegraf, Mladić’s reply was: ‘I will not leave. I am a general on active service in the Army of Yugoslavia taking my annual holiday. That is all I wish to say.’ The offended Ratko Mladić thus refused the request by the police to leave Montenegro, warning that he was under protection of the Army. Žugić nevertheless continue to press him, while the Montenegrin leaders pressed Belgrade. Mladić left Montenegro on the following morning. After his departure the minister of the interior, Filip Vujanović, stated that ‘our search has shown that Rako Mladić is not in Montenegro’.

According to the Belgrade media, Radovan Karadžić and Ratko Mladić celebrated the Orthodox Christmas of 2003 at the Ostrog monastery, in the company of the leader of the Radical Party, Tomislav Nikolić, and Metropolitan Amfilohije Radović. According to an anonymous monk: ‘This monastery is dedicated to St Basil of Ostrog, so it is a site of miracles. It is a miracle too that our sons Radovan and Ratko have stayed in this holy place, that these greatest Serb heroes have spent here Christmas Eve and Christmas, the day of Christ’s birth, in peace and according to tradition.’

According to Monitor, Radovan Karadžić spent the summer of 2005 at Jovan Do, between Nikšic and Ostrog. It is here that Amfilohije a few years ago erected a church building most of which lies below ground. The Sarajevo police believes that Radovan Stanković, another name on The Hague list, is also hiding in Montenegro or Serbia. A few weeks ago he escaped from prison in Foča, where he was serving a twenty-year sentence for ‘monstrous’ crimes committed during the war in Foča. He escaped in a well-planned action while on his way to the dentist. On leaving the police vehicle, he pushed aside the two guards and jumped into a waiting car. Three days later the car was found on a country path close to Bosnia’s border with Montenegro.

Translated from Monitor (Podgorica), 22 June 2007

2/20/2007

NATO Raids Pale

They raided the Karadzic house and interrogated Sasha and Sonja...

And Karadzic supporter Radomir Kojic's house.

Good to see NATO pressing the Karadzic family, who remain the center of the Karadzic support network. The fact of the raid shows NATO in Bosnia still has a pulse and is still on the PIFWC mission. No word yet on how productive they were.

2/19/2007

The Courage of Raffi Gregorian

Raffi Gregorian is the current Deputy High Representatives in Bosnia. An experience American diplomat, he has been the singular diving force of international pressure against Karadzic so far this year.

Here is an excerpt of a Dnevni Avaz interview with Mr. Gregorian about Karadzic:

"I am glad that action has been taken – both by the international and the domestic structures – against those accused of war crimes and those helping them. This action is the result of talks that we have had with the authorities in Bosnia-Herzegovina. They are now beginning to use the legal mechanisms that they have at their disposal. This will continue and be intensified. And that action will not stop until those accused of war crimes are in The Hague. Moreover, the OHR and I will make sure that this happens. The pressure will only grow.

"We know that Karadzic is helping his family financially. I cannot go into detail, but we know this for certain. I can say that they got the money during the course of last year. We believe that Karadzic is in the region. The Chief Prosecutor thinks that he is not in Bosnia-Herzegovina, but his family is the center of the support network, and that is why they are on the list. They have contact with him, they get money from him, they help him and perhaps meet with him. A few years ago, Karadzic's wife urged him to give himself up; his son was arrested; they promised that they would help. But they were lying.

"So the pressure for Karadzic to face the scales of justice will not cease until either that happens or until he is pronounced dead."

RS MUP Compiles List of 95 Aiding Karadzic, Others

The RS MUP (Interior Ministry) forwarded to SIPA (State Investigation and Protection Agency) and the DGS (State Border Service) a list of 95 persons suspected of being part of the network of helpers of Radovan Karadzic, Ratko Mladic, and Stojan Zupljanin.

No surprises; everyone on the list has already been linked to Hague tribunal fugitives or interrogated by NATO or EUFOR.

The list includes all members of the Karadzic family, Ljiljana, Sonja, and Sasa; as well as Jovan Skobo, Momcilo Mandic, Milovan "Cicko" Bjelica, Zeljko "Luna" Jankovic, Milenko Karisik, members of the Zupljanin family, Radomir Kojic, and others.

"The public knows these people; there are no surprises here. They are people who have family ties and friendly relations with Hague tribunal fugitives. They are people who have been blacklisted by the EU and the United States. SIPA needs to check their bank accounts and perhaps request their blocking. Should the court issue warrants to that effect, we need to arrest some of them. The DGS is tasked with finding out whether they go out of Bosnia-Herzegovina and where they travel," a source in SIPA told Dnevni Avaz.

Radovan in Russia? The Evidence Suggests...

... possibly.

The rumor started when Oslobodjenje reported from an unnamed official of the Bosnian State Investigation and Protection Agency (GROZD): "We got this information by wiretapping a telephone conversation abroad."

The Russian embassy in Sarajevo has denied that Karadzic could be in Russia now. But the last couple years have shown that Russian territory can be a relatively comfortable and attractive sanctuary for Bosnian Serb war crimes indictees.

In August 2005, Dragan Zelenovic, wanted from the Hague's Foca indictment for mass rape, was arrested in the west Siberian region of Khanty-Mansiisk, where he had been living for several years under an assumed name and working in the construction industry.

The ICTY currently alleges that the fugitive former Serbian General Vlastimir Djordjevic is hiding in Russia, a charge Russia denies as it has "checked out the address given to us by the Hague." (Djordjevic wasn't there).

I can easily imagine Djordjevic in Russia - after all, he had lots of ties there. Karadzic though? I really see his cultural comfort zone more closely aligned to Montenegro and Greece.

At least the Deputy is aggressive

Deputy High Representative Raffi Gregorian said Karadzic family assets should be seized, and believes Bonn powers should remain in place beyond 30 June.

Del Ponte warns of growing apathy towards Hague Tribunal efforts

Here.

Bosnian and Serbian intel agencies cooperating about Karadzic

Over the past few months, Bosnia-Herzegovina's Intelligence and Security Agency (OSA), Serbia's Security and Information Agency (BIA), and the RS MUP have been meeting each week in Belgrade to exchange information and intelligence on the movement of war crimes indictees.

However, in spite of a more intensive cooperation and search for Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, there are no results. A source from the Dnevni Avaz, who has been attending these meetings himself, said that none of these three intelligence and police agencies had information on Karadzic's whereabouts.

"Each one of us has something to say in these meetings. For example, some have presented information that Karadzic was in Russia, then in Greece, and then in the border zone of Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia-Herzegovina. This is operative information. That is, something that has not been verified. According to the latest information exchanged in Belgrade, last week Karadzic seemed to have disappeared without a trace," the source said.

Greece, Russia, border zone of Montenegro and BiH... sounds about right to me in terms of most likely possibilities. The Serbs (other than Kostunica) seem to want to do the right thing and capture Karadzic. Wish I could say the same for the Montenegrin government.

2/01/2007

Not Smart

The last month has brought news of renewed deportations of Bosnian Serb men from the US to Bosnia. The reason? In the last two years, a military intelligence analyst working at the Hague combed all ICTY testimony for names of Bosnian Serb men who may bear a connection to war crimes. The resulting list of 14,000 was handed off to US immigration officials, who have seized several of the men and whisked them off to Sarajevo for a determination tribunal to decide whether they should face war crimes charges.

This is a bad idea on many levels. First, there's no indication as to whether the names on the list bear culpability for war crimes. The indictment process used by the Hague works for its evidentiary standards, whereas this system is arbitrary, capricious, and isn't based on any real standard. Second, these Bosnian Serb emigres have certain due process rights under the American system, but are being swept away without anything near a modicum of probable cause or a chance for a hearing. Most importantly, this is a bad strategic idea. Not only is it an unnecessary aggravation in our foreign affairs for little or no gain, but it also serves as a distraction in our efforts to catch the real bad guys. You know, the ones with outstanding indictments from the Hague whose criminal behavior leaves no doubt. Namely, Karadzic and Mladic.

1/16/2007

The US doesn't care anymore? A troubling development in the hunt for Karadzic

Neretva River and others have posted on the comments made by US Ambassador-at-Large for war crimes Clint Williamson about the Balkan tribunals.

Most of what was reported about Williamson's comments are that the ICTY will keep its doors open until 2010 for Karadzic and Mladic. We already knew that.

Williamson's most astonishing comment, buried in the west but on front pages in Belgrade and Podgorica, was that Karadzic was probably in Serbia.

"The United States thinks that Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic are in Serbia,” he said. He added that Karadzic spends most of his time in Serbia but sometimes goes to the Republika Srpska and other places in the region.

Where did this come from? When has Karadzic ever been alleged to be in Serbia? Ms. Del Ponte presently asserts that Karadzic's whereabouts are unknown, and before that had maintained for years that Karadzic was probably in the RS or Montenegro. Serbia, Mr. Williamson?? Based on what??

My cynical side points me to a certain conclusion: the United States wants Montenegro's quick accession into PfP and NATO so that Montenegro can supplement NATO forces in Afghanistan. This process cannot be expedited if Montenegro is considered non-compliant with war crimes hunting demands.

What better man than Williamson, a former ICTY prosecutor and present Bush administration insider, to use his haughty title to shroud Montenegro's role as a Karadzic sanctuary?

What saddens me the most about this is that I once thought the United States was the most vigilant country in pursuing Karadzic. Now it seems the Americans have lost all interest.

1/05/2007

Frontline Football Bosnia vs. Serbia

I viewed this originally from the Genocide in Bosnia blog, linked at left. A feature video excellently narrated by Ben Anderson, it exposes some of the extreme nationalism that still permeates much of Bosnian-Serbian relations.

12/24/2006

To all those committed to Karadzic's capture...

Merry Christmas! Wishing you all the best in 2007. May you have the fortitude and courage to continue grappling with this problem we face.

For excellent Balkans reporting, please visit the Neretva River blog, linked at left. The author, Observer, posts frequent and excellent analysis of trends and issues affecting social justice and the Balkans region.

Though not newcomers, I would also like to tout three other blogs, all with links on the left. Yakima Gulag (also linked at left) is the original Balkans blogger, and the frequency and quality of her postings have not diminished. Shaina at Bosnia Vault has an outstanding blog with a wise approach to Balkans issues and the human relationships that underpin them which is highly unusual for an author so young. Kirk Johnson at Americans for Bosnia is in the midst of a thorough review of "Fools' Crusade." Worth a look.

/body>