NATO forces cordon off former Serb stronghold in Bosnia

PALE, Bosnia-Hercegovina (AFP) Apr 03, 2003
NATO-led peacekeepers on Thursday set up checkpoints around Pale, the former stronghold of the top fugitive warcrimes suspect Radovan Karadzic, in the second such operation in less than a week, NATO and witnesses said.

"We have an ongoing operation" in the area of Pale, near Sarajevo, Dale MacEachern, a spokesman for the NATO-led Stabilisation Force (SFOR) said, declining to disclose the nature of the action or give any other details.

SFOR soldiers have been deployed on all main roads leading out of the town but vehicles were not stopped, witnesses said.

During the previous four-day operation in Pale, launched last Friday, SFOR soldiers stopped and searched almost every vehicle, as a couple of NATO helicopters buzzed overhead.

SFOR troops were deployed in Bosnia to provide security following the country's 1992-95 war. Their mandate includes arresting war crime suspects and carrying out surprise inspections of civilian and militay facilities.

The NATO force made two unsuccessful attempts last year to arrest Karadzic, the former Bosnian Serb leader wanted by the UN war crimes tribunal for genocide and crimes against humanity committed during Bosnia's war.

In March, the peacekeepers raided the Pale premises of two local businessmen known to provide financial assistance to Karadzic, thereby helping him to evade arrest.

SPACE.WIRE