Serbia's minister for the war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia said Serbian officials had obstructed the investigation. Rasim Ljajic said that Serbia had in the past denied the existence of evidentiary documents, though they later surfaced and were handed over to officials at The Hague. On Monday, chief prosecutor to the tribunal Carla del Ponte told European Union officials that she felt Serbia was still unwilling to cooperate regarding the four remaining war crimes suspects.
Last month, del Ponte's former spokeswoman Florence Hartmann alleged there was evidence the United States and some EU countries had obstructed the arrest of several suspects during the 1990's. Hartmann claims that the two countries made a secret deal with Karadzic to not detain him in exchange for his disappearance. Llajic stated that Hartmann's allegations appear accurate.
The four remaining suspects include Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic, former Bosnian Serb army and political leaders. Both are on the run for allegations regarding the massacre at Srebrenica, in which 8,000 Muslim men and boys were killed in 1995. 42 Serbian suspects have been indicted on war crimes by the tribunal so far.
In June, Del Ponte suggested that Mladic may be arrested "within a few weeks." Del Ponte, stated that she saw "concrete signs" of the detention and extradition of Mladic.
Ljajic said that the obstructions occurred prior to the formation of the current government and that he was hopeful to reach an agreement with Del Ponte regarding access to intelligence archives in Serbia. Cooperation with the war crimes tribunal is seen as a key benchmark for Serbia's bid to the European Union. Del Ponte is scheduled to visit the area next week to provide her assessment. EU officials said they would await her analysis before proceeding with Serbia's membership bid.
