Official denies talks on Mladic surrender
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-06-12 08:27

A senior Serb official expressed doubt Saturday that a former Bosnian Serb military commander accused of orchestrating the Srebrenica massacre would ever surrender, but said authorities were ready to find and arrest him.

Human Rights Minister Rasim Ljajic denied media reports that the negotiations were under way with Ratko Mladic on his possible surrender to the U.N. court in The Hague, Netherlands, on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity

"I believe that this state is ready, capable and willing to find Mladic and arrest him," Ljajic said. "I don't think he would surrender since he hasn't already done so."

An undated file photo of Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, left and his military commander Gen. Ratko Mladic, right, at Mt. Jahorina, Bosnia. [AP]

A senior police official, Miroslav Milosevic, also denied reports that authorities were negotiating with Mladic, calling them "pure sensationalism."

B92 Radio and Television and the Politika daily both reported Saturday that talks with the former Bosnian Serb army commander were ongoing. Mladic has been at large since the indictment against him was brought in 1995.

Pressure on Belgrade to hand over Mladic to The Hague tribunal has intensified recently as the 10th anniversary approaches of the massacre of 8,000 Muslims in Srebrenica, which was allegedly orchestrated by Mladic and carried out by his troops in July 1995 as part of the Balkan wars of the 1990s.

Apparently indicating a U.S. belief that an arrest could come soon, Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns announced the lifting of a freeze on U.S. aid to Serbia, which was tied to Mladic's arrest.

But in a sign of continued support for Mladic among nationalists in Serbia, graffiti praising the fugitive general appeared in Belgrade on buildings along a main road reading "Mladic Our Hero" and "Srebrenica Liberation." Similar messages also appeared in the southern city of Nis, the Beta news agency reported.

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