BOSNIAN SERB GOV'T TOLERATING WAR CRIMINALS - SERBIAN MINISTER

SARAJEVO, April 15 (Hina) - Serbia's Justice Minister Vladan Batic has harshly criticised incumbent authorities in Bosnia's Serb entity of tolerating and harbouring criminals and supporting political forces which are trying to forestall democratic reforms in Serbia. #L# "With the people in authority today, Republika Srpska (RS) has no future at all, and the RS police minister would better arrest criminals and Hague indictees and work against making Banja Luka an oasis for criminals," Batic was quoted as saying by the Banja Luka- based Nezavisne novine daily of Tuesday. Batic's criticism of the RS ruling coalition, which is made of Hague indictee Radovan Karadzic's Serb Democratic Party and Bosnian Foreign Minister Mladen Ivanic's Party of Democratic Progress, comes a day after RS Interior Minister Zoran Djeric and his Bosnian Federation counterpart Mevludin Halilovic visited Belgrade. Nezavisne novine says Serbia's Interior Minister Dusan Mihajlovic refused to talk with Djeric. Batic said that so far Banja Luka had not been forthcoming in giving authorities in Belgrade any information. He wondered how it was possible that the RS police had not been able to extradite any suspects to the U.S. war crimes tribunal at The Hague. "They are all followers of Karadzic and (Ratko) Mladic, those who threatened they would cross Drina River and square accounts with us for touching their idol and their god Slobodan Milosevic." Batic said that in the difficult times of struggle against former Yugoslav President Milosevic's regime, then Serbian opposition's only support came from Biljana Plavsic and Milorad Dodik, former RS leaders. Batic confirmed that prior to last month's slaying of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, Dodik warned Djindjic about a conspiracy being planned against him by retired Serbian and KOS (Counter- Intelligence) officers in collusion with criminals from RS. (hina) ha