Ashdown told reporters in Sarajevo he had undertaken the latest measures because the authorities of the Bosnian Serb entity had not arrested even one war crimes indictee wanted by the Hague war crimes tribunal, which was why NATO decided not to admit Bosnia-Herzegovina to its Partnership for Peace programme.
As part of extensive sanctions against Bosnian Serb authorities, Ashdown ordered the closure of numerous facilities of the entity army assumed to have served as shelters for fugitive indictees like Ratko Mladic.
Under Ashdown's decision, the two entities' defence ministries will gradually transfer their powers to the state Defence Ministry and the whole process is expected to be completed by the end of 2005.
As of today, also under the decision, the bank accounts of the following war crimes indictees are blocked -- Goran Hadzic, Vlastimir Djordjevic, Sreten Lukic, Vladimir Lazarevic, and two who are already in custody in The Hague, Miroslav Bralo and Ljubisa Beara. Under US President George Bush's order 13304, their property in the United States is also blocked.
US Ambassador Douglas McElhaney and Ashdown presented additional measures whereby the US Government punished the Serb Democratic Party (SDS) and the Party of Democratic Progress (PDP), both members of ruling coalitions on the state and Serb entity levels.
Officials from these two parties, from whose ranks are state Presidency chairman Borislav Paravac (SDS) and Foreign Minister Mladen Ivanic (PDP), are banned from entering the US. The SDS' property in the US has been blocked, and US companies and citizens are prohibited from having transactions with the party established by Radovan Karadzic.
The US also blacklisted Zdravo and Komotko, two companies registered in Serbia and Montenegro, the director of which is Karadzic's brother Luka.