Karadzic: Balkan war-crimes suspect captured

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By David R. Sands

Former Bosnian-Serb military leader Radovan Karadzic, accused of genocide in the bloody Balkan wars of the mid-1990s and one of the world's most-wanted fugitives, was captured after more than a dozen years on the run, Serbian officials announced Monday evening.

The stunning arrest of the 63-year-old Mr. Karadzic was a coup for the new pro-Western Serbian government, whose efforts to break out of international isolation have been crippled in part because of a failure to bring Mr. Karadzic and other war-crimes suspects to justice.

"Radovan Karadzic was located and arrested tonight" by Serbian security agents, the office of Serbian President Boris Tadic said in a statement Monday night, giving few details of the operation.

The capture was immediately hailed by the European Union, the White House and Serge Brammertz, chief prosecutor for The Hague-based international tribunal that is trying crimes arising from the Balkan wars. The panel has brought two indictments against Mr. Karadzic relating to the deaths of thousands of Muslims and Croats in Bosnia at the hands of ethnic-Serb forces during the 1992-95 clashes that tore apart the former state of Yugoslavia.

"This is excellent news," said EU foreign-policy chief Javier Solana on Monday. "... It shows the commitment of the new Serbian government to cooperate with international organizations."

The White House in a statement congratulated the Serbian security forces for their "professionalism and courage" in tracking down Mr. Karadzic.

"There is no better tribute to the victims of the war's atrocities than bringing their perpetrators to justice," the statement said.

Mr. Brammertz, who was scheduled to visit Belgrade on Wednesday, called the capture of Mr. Karadzic a "milestone."

"This is a very important day for the victims who have waited for this arrest for over a decade," he added. "It is also an important day for international justice because it clearly demonstrates that nobody is beyond the reach of the law and that, sooner or later, all fugitives will be brought to justice."

The indictments charge Mr. Karadzic and other Bosnian-Serb leaders with genocide, murder, deportation and other acts targeting non-Serbian populations in Bosnia during the war.