SFOR STEPS UP CONTROL NEAR BORDER WITH MONTENEGRO

MOSTAR, June 17 (Hina) - Stabilisation Force troops in Bosnia have stepped up patrols and checkpoints in the south-east region of Republika Srpska, near the border with Montenegro, the commander of SFOR's multinational brigade for Sector Southeast, Italian General Marco Chiarini, told Hina. #L# Asked whether the increased SFOR engagement in the area near the Montenegrin border was connected with tracking war crimes indictees, the general said he could not comment on such speculation so as not to jeopardise the action. Chiarini did say, however, that the SFOR would apprehend war crimes indictees, given the chance. According to the media, the most wanted indictee of the Hague's war crimes tribunal, Radovan Karadzic, is allegedly hiding in the south-eastern regions of Republika Srpska, near the border with Montenegro, where he was born. It has also been said that Karadzic's most loyal supporters organised to protect him from apprehension were in that part of the Bosnian Serb entity. According to the Italian general, actions that the SFOR is currently carrying out in Republika Srpska's south-east contribute to improving the security situation in Bosnia, which includes an increasing number of local residents who hand over their weapons left over from the war. (hina) lml