UN war crimes prosecutor Ms Carla Del Ponte urged Bosnian Serbs today to deliver their fugitive war-time leader Mr Radovan Karadzic for trial with his close associates already detained at The Hague.
"Karadzic should be arrested because we will go on trial with (Momcilo) Krajisnik and (Biljana) Plavsic, and Karadzic is accused by the same facts in the same indictment. So it will be important that all three accused can go on trial simultaneously," Ms Del Ponte told journalists after meeting with the top international envoy to Bosnia, Mr Wolfgang Petritsch.
Ms Biljana Plavsic, former Bosnian Serb president and a close ally of Mr Karadzic during Bosnia's 1992-95 war, turned herself in to the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in January.
She was indicted for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Mr Krajisnik, the wartime speaker of the Bosnian Serb assembly, was arrested in April last year by the NATO-led Stabilisation Force (SFOR) to face charges of genocide against the non-Serb population during the Bosnian war.
Mr Karadzic is the most wanted of Bosnia's war crimes suspects and has been indicted twice by the ICTY for genocide and crimes against humanity and civilians.
Bosnian media often speculate about his hideout in the east of the country.
Mr Petritsch, whose office oversees Bosnia's peace process, called on the Bosnian Serb authorities to take note of last week's arrest of a Bosnian war crimes suspect, Mr Milomir Stakic, detained by Serbian police.
He said Bosnian Serb leaders often look towards Belgrade as an example, and that it was time for those in Banja Luka to do so again.
Mr Petritsch also reminded them of their pledge to cooperate with the ICTY.
"I believe that now, three months after they signed up to these commitments, it is high time that they deliver Karadzic and the least they can do is to exclude Karadzic from their party," he said.
Ms Del Ponte, who arrived in Bosnia yesterday to meet with Bosnian leaders, international community representatives and SFOR commanders, also stressed that "38 fugitives" from the present indictments should be arrested.
Since June 1997 SFOR troops have detained and transferred 21 war crimes suspects to The Hague while several surrendered voluntarily.
AFP