The Hague: A former Bosnian Serb army officer surrendered to the UN war crimes tribunal yesterday, and Serbia said it was confident that recent co-operation with The Hague would boost its bid for eventual EU membership.
Drago Nikolic, a former lieutenant in the Bosnian Serb army, is expected to be flown to The Hague tomorrow to faces charges of genocide linked to the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of some 8,000 Muslims.
He is the seventh Serb or Bosnian Serb suspect to surrender in the past two months. Last year the tribunal's chief prosecutor, Carla del Ponte, criticised the Serbian prime minister, Vojislav Kostunica, as the "biggest obstacle" to the tribunal.
But Mr Kostunica said in a statement yesterday that the tribunal had viewed the recent surrenders positively. As a result of this, his government was hoping for an encouraging report this month on Serbia's fitness for European Union membership.
"Co-operation with the tribunal is moving in a positive direction, which makes it possible for Serbia to fulfil its international obligations," Mr Kostunica quoted tribunal president Theodor Meron as saying after a meeting. Mr Meron made no comment afterwards.
Belgrade is under intense pressure to improve its co-operation with the war crimes court ahead of the crucial EU "feasibility study" report later this month.
Mr Kostunica, a moderate nationalist, has resisted pressure to arrest suspects for fear of popular anger and says that the surrender of indictees is a vindication of his policy of persuasion.
Bosnia, which hopes to begin talks soon on a stabilisation and association agreement with the EU, persuaded Bosnian Muslim Gen Rasim Delic to surrender at the end of February.
Ramush Haradinaj, the ethnic Albanian prime minister of Kosovo, surrendered last week, scoring a diplomatic coup for the UN-run province, which is hoping to gain independence from Serbia when talks on final status begin later this year.
In Pristina, the capital of Kosovo, President Ibrahim Rugova escaped unhurt yesterday when a blast rocked his car. A police source said that the explosion, in a refuse container, had been detonated remotely.
The armoured rear window of the Kosovo Albanian leader's vehicle was shattered but not pierced.
"Whoever committed this was either stupid, in not thinking he'd be in an armoured car, or has done it to show there could be a next time, and the blast could be stronger," a senior Nato source said.
There was no immediate indication as to who might have planted the device or why, and no claim of responsibility. Speculation focused on political rivalries between former guerrillas.
"What happened . . . shows that unfortunately there are still bad elements that want to destabilise Kosovo," Mr Rugova said after talks with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.
Mr Solana said it was the kind of act which could not be tolerated and would not be tolerated.
- (Reuters)