Thursday, May 26, 2011

Top War Crimes Suspect Mladic Arrested in Serbia; Hid for Years from International Genocide Charges

The Euro News website reports that Bosnian Serb wartime general Ratko Mladic was arrested in Serbia today (May 26, 2011), after years on the run from international genocide charges.

The general -- accused of orchestrating the massacre of 8,000 Muslim men and boys in the town of Srebrenica and a brutal 43-month siege of Sarajevo during Bosnia's 1992-1995 war -- was found in a farmhouse owned by a relative, a police official said.

"On behalf of the Republic of Serbia, I can announce the arrest of Ratko Mladic. The extradition process is under way," Serbian President Boris Tadic told reporters in Belgrade today.

Mladic, 69, was arrested in the village of Lazarevo, near the northeastern town of Zrenjanin about 60 miles from the capital of Belgrade in the early hours, a police official said.

Mladic's arrest is expected to speed up Serbia's acceptance for membership in the European Union (EU), as EU officials had stipulated on several occasions that the arrest of the wartime general was a critical prerequisite for Serbia's membership.

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