Ratko Mladic Loses Yugoslav Protection
VOA News
15 Feb 2002 05:23 UTC
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Officials in Belgrade say former Bosnian Serb army commander and war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic is hiding in Yugoslavia but is no longer protected by the country's military.

A Serbian government official who asked not to be identified said authorities recently informed the general he will no longer have Yugoslav military protection

The Chief Prosecutor of the Hague War Crimes Tribunal, Carla Del Ponte, accused the Yugoslav government last November of sheltering General Mladic.

The Tribunal has indicted the general, as well as Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic for the three year Bosnian Serb shelling of civilians in Sarajevo. The court also indicted the two men for their roles in the disappearance of about eight thousand Bosnian Muslim men after Serb forces captured the enclave of Srebrenica in July, 1995.

International humanitarian organizations say Serb forces massacred those missing, though only 4,000 bodies have yet been recovered.

On Wednesday, authorities in the Serb Republic in Bosnia-Herzegovina announced they will give more than 20 Serb war crimes suspects 30 days to surrender or lose chances for bail if arrested.

Some information for this report provided by AFP and DPA.

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