ZAGREB, Feb 10 (Hina) - Former Bosnian Presidency member Mirko Sarovic has dismissed accusations that he helped indicted Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic and rejected the possibility of resigning as deputy chairman of the Serb
Democratic Party (SDS), saying that he is the victim of an international conspiracy against the Bosnian Serbs.
ZAGREB, Feb 10 (Hina) - Former Bosnian Presidency member Mirko Sarovic
has dismissed accusations that he helped indicted Serb wartime leader
Radovan Karadzic and rejected the possibility of resigning as deputy
chairman of the Serb Democratic Party (SDS), saying that he is the
victim of an international conspiracy against the Bosnian Serbs.#L#
"They're accusing me because they consider Republika Srpska as an
obstacle," Sarovic told reporters on Tuesday in a suburb of Sarajevo
where SDS leaders gathered to discuss what to do following a demand by
the international community's High Representative, Paddy Ashdown, that
Sarovic be relieved of his party duties and removed from political
life for assisting war crimes suspects.
Sarovic has been identified along with nine other Bosnian Serbs as a
member of a network that has been helping Karadzic for years to escape
from justice. This group was put on the black list of the American
government and the European Union after a thorough investigation.
The confirmation of media speculation that Sarovic, as a former
president of Republika Srpska and a member of the Bosnian Presidency,
has continued his contacts with Karadzic and has actively supported
him, has caused an upheaval in the SDS leadership.
SDS leader Dragan Kalinic said that the international community had
launched an all-out attack on his party and its "key role" on the
political scene in Bosnia-Herzegovina. He, however, did not explicitly
rule out the possibility of Sarovic's resignation from the SDS.
Some Bosnian media quoted an unnamed US official as saying that
Sarovic had established contact with Karadzic in 2003 after he was
forced to resign from the Bosnian Presidency over a scandal in
connection with Republika Srpska's illegal military cooperation with
Iraq.
Sarovic was charged that as president of Republika Srpska he was
responsible for sending military experts to Iraq and repairing Saddam
Hussein's aircraft fleet, which was carried out by the "Orao" Aviation
Institute from Bijeljina.
(Hina) vm sb