BLEWITT: WEST LACKS POLITICAL WILL TO ARREST KARADZIC

SARAJEVO, Jan 26(Hina) - Graham Blewitt, deputy chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), believes that former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic is still at large because the West lacks the political will to arrest him.#L# In an interview with Monday's issue of the Sarajevo-based Dnevni Avaz daily, Blewitt said the ICTY had always been assured that the West had the political will to arrest Karadzic, but added that he no longer believed this would happen. Confirming that he would return to Australia in the middle of the year after ten years of service with the ICTY, Blewitt said Saddam Hussein's arrest was the best proof that everything could be done if there was political will. The failure to arrest Karadzic is primarily the fault of the authorities of Bosnia-Herzegovina, especially Republika Srpska, Blewitt said, adding that the Stabilisation Force shared the responsibility because it had the opportunity to arrest the Serb war-time leader. Blewitt claims that Karadzic is moving along the border area between Bosnia and Montenegro and that he enjoys protection from the Serb Orthodox Church and his numerous friends from the Serb Democratic Party, who are still in power. Asked whether he believed that sanctions could be imposed on the Bosnian Serb entity over non-cooperation with the ICTY, Blewitt said he did not believe that could happen. The deputy prosecutor believes that charges against former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic, including charges of genocide, would be successfully proven by the end of his trial. He confirmed that the Prosecution was conducting another 12-15 separate investigations against 26-30 people. It is expected that the investigations, which refer to Serbs, Croats and Muslims from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbs and Croats from Croatia, Kosovo Albanians, and Macedonians from Macedonia, will be completed by the end of the year. Depending on the accused, some of the cases may be transferred to domestic courts while the ICTY will keep more important cases, he said. (Hina) rml