ICTY prosecutor to discuss fugitives with Bosnia, Serbia

(THE HAGUE) - The prosecutor of the UN's Yugoslav war crimes court will visit Serbia and Bosnia in the coming weeks to examine progress with attempts to capture two fugitives, his office said Tuesday.

Serge Brammertz is expected in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo on October 28 and 29, followed by a visit to Belgrade, Serbia, on November 2 and 3, his spokeswoman told AFP.

"All these meetings are to discuss a number of open issues in relation to cooperation but also to address the fugitive issue," the prosecutor told a media briefing earlier in the day.

Brammertz is due to report to the United Nations Security Council in December on the two countries' attempts at finding genocide suspect Bosnian Serb military leader Ratko Mladic and ex-Croatian Serb leader Goran Hadzic.

Both are widely thought to be hiding in Serbia, whose hopes of joining the European Union have been thwarted by its failure to capture the men.

"I really hope that the start of the (Radovan) Karadzic trial and the visibility given to the crimes committed will also have a positive impact on the search for Mladic and the support of the international community will allow the Serbian operational services to have him arrested," Brammertz said.

He added he was "cautiously optimistic" the two fugitives would be arrested before the tribunal closes.

The tribunal's second last trial, that of Mladic's wartime political boss Karadzic, is set to start on Monday and expected to end in 2012.