Dale MacEachern, a spokesman for the NATO-led Stabilisation Force (SFOR) in Sarajevo, declined to disclose the nature of the action, begun Thursday, or give further details.

It was the second such operation in Pale within less than a week.

On Thursday SFOR soldiers backed by helicopters were deployed on all main roads leading out of the town but vehicles were not stopped, witnesses said.

According to witnesses SFOR vehicles patrolled the town on Friday while soldiers equipped with pocket cameras were taking pictures from inside their vehicles.

During the previous four-day operation in Pale, launched last week, SFOR soldiers stopped and searched almost every vehicle while NATO helicopters buzzed overhead.

The spokesman for the 12,000-strong SFOR said he did not know whether the details or results of the two operations were to be disclosed.

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 military 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 1992-95 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