Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Bosnian cops raid homes of former aides of war crimes suspect (7:52 p.m.)
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina - Bosnian Serb police searched the homes of two former security officers of war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic on Wednesday looking for clues about his whereabouts, officials said.
The homes of Goran Kovacevic and Milimir Batinic were searched because they were suspected of being a part of Karadzic's "support network," Bosnian Serb police spokeswoman Tamara Maric said.
A number of documents were confiscated during the raid, she said.
No arrests were made.
Kovacevic lives in Pale, the former Bosnian Serb stronghold near Sarajevo where Karadzic used to reside before he went into hiding after the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague indicted him in 1995 for genocide and other war crimes, including the slaughter of up to 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica in 1995.
Batinic lives in nearby Sokolac, where his home was searched.
Karadzic and his military commander during the war, Ratko Mladic, have eluded capture for more than a decade. Mladic is also charged with genocide.
NATO officials believe they are receiving help and money from a network of supporters.
Mladic is believed to be hiding in Serbia, but there have been no hints about Karadzic's whereabouts for years.
NATO and European Union forces have raided Karadzic's home in Pale, as well as the apartments of his children, many times.
Documents and other materials have been seized and his family members questioned.
The U.S. government is offering US$5 million (euro3.4 million) for any information that could lead to the arrest of Karadzic, Mladic or two other suspects on the run, Stojan Zupljanin, a Bosnian Serb military leader, and Goran Hadzic, a political leader wanted for war crimes in Croatia.
(AP) |
