SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — A U.S. diplomat said two top war crimes suspects — Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic — could be apprehended with a single phone call from Serbia’s prime minister.
Raffi Gregorian, deputy international administrator in Bosnia, told Bosnia’s BHT1 television late Monday that the suspects were ‘‘for sure’’ hiding in Serbia.
‘‘Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica can solve the issue of their arrest with just one phone call,’’ Gregorian said.
In Belgrade, Serbian Defense Minister Dragan Sutanovac asked Gregorian to provide additional information on the whereabouts of the fugitives, ‘‘so we can act and arrest them.’’
Kostunica was traveling to New York for a Wednesday U.N. Security Council meeting on Kosovo and could not be reached for comment. He has repeatedly said that his government does not know where Karadzic and Mladic are hiding, and that authorities are doing everything in their power to find them.
Karadzic, the wartime Bosnian Serb leader, and Mladic, his top general, have been indicted by the U.N. War Crimes tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, on charges of genocide and other crimes they allegedly committed during Bosnia’s 1992-95 war, including the 1995 slaughter of up to 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica.
Both have eluded capture for 11 years, and NATO and EU officials believe they are being aided and funded by a network of supporters.
For years there have been no hints of where Karadzic was hiding, though Mladic is widely believed to be in Serbia.
Authorities have raided Karadzic’s home in Pale, near Sarajevo, many times, as well as the homes of his children, seizing documents and questioning family members.
The U.S. government has offered $5 million for information leading to the capture of Karadzic, Mladic and two other fugitives — Stojan Zupljanin, a Bosnian Serb military leader, and Goran Hadzic, a political leader wanted for war crimes in Croatia.
Raffi Gregorian, deputy international administrator in Bosnia, told Bosnia’s BHT1 television late Monday that the suspects were ‘‘for sure’’ hiding in Serbia.
‘‘Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica can solve the issue of their arrest with just one phone call,’’ Gregorian said.
In Belgrade, Serbian Defense Minister Dragan Sutanovac asked Gregorian to provide additional information on the whereabouts of the fugitives, ‘‘so we can act and arrest them.’’
Kostunica was traveling to New York for a Wednesday U.N. Security Council meeting on Kosovo and could not be reached for comment. He has repeatedly said that his government does not know where Karadzic and Mladic are hiding, and that authorities are doing everything in their power to find them.
Karadzic, the wartime Bosnian Serb leader, and Mladic, his top general, have been indicted by the U.N. War Crimes tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, on charges of genocide and other crimes they allegedly committed during Bosnia’s 1992-95 war, including the 1995 slaughter of up to 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica.
Both have eluded capture for 11 years, and NATO and EU officials believe they are being aided and funded by a network of supporters.
For years there have been no hints of where Karadzic was hiding, though Mladic is widely believed to be in Serbia.
Authorities have raided Karadzic’s home in Pale, near Sarajevo, many times, as well as the homes of his children, seizing documents and questioning family members.
The U.S. government has offered $5 million for information leading to the capture of Karadzic, Mladic and two other fugitives — Stojan Zupljanin, a Bosnian Serb military leader, and Goran Hadzic, a political leader wanted for war crimes in Croatia.