EU troops hunt Mladic on fugitive's birthday
(SARAJEVO) - EU forces in Bosnia launched a pre-dawn raid Thursday on the home of a Serb linked to fugitive genocide suspect Ratko Mladic, European Union peacekeepers said.
Troops entered the family home of Dusan Todic, Mladic's former military aide during Bosnia's 1992-1995 war, at about 4:00 am (0300 GMT) in the northwestern city of Banja Luka, EUFOR said.
The raid came on the 67th birthday of Mladic, who is wanted for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity for his role as Bosnian Serb military chief in the former Yugoslav republic's 1992-1995 conflict.
Ordered by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague, the operation was aimed at "looking for information which could assist the ongoing search for the former general," said a EUFOR statement.
"Some items" had been seized in the raid and EUFOR were to question Todic, the European force's spokesman, Pat O'Callaghan, told AFP without elaborating.
Mladic is linked to some of the worst atrocities in Europe since World War II, notably the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of 8,000 Bosnian Muslims and the siege of Sarajevo that claimed more than 10,000 lives.
He is one of two remaining fugitives still wanted by the ICTY. The other is former Croatian Serb leader Goran Hadzic, 50.
Text and Picture Copyright 2009 AFP. All other Copyright 2009 EUbusiness Ltd. All rights reserved. This material is intended solely for personal use. Any other reproduction, publication or redistribution of this material without the written agreement of the copyright owner is strictly forbidden and any breach of copyright will be considered actionable.
