ASHDOWN: ATTACKS ON KARADZIC, MLADIC TO BE WIDENED

MOSTAR/SARAJEVO, Aug 8 (Hina) - The High Representative in Bosnia- Herzegovina, Paddy Ashdown, has confirmed that the international community has stepped up efforts to arrest principal war criminals Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic. #L# Ashdown said that he believed Karadzic and Mladic would see their day in court, adding that efforts to arrest them had been stepped up to include those harbouring them. Concrete, practical steps which are very painful (for those people) are being taken, Ashdown said. The High Representative made this statement in today's issues of the Bosnian press in response to a recent open letter the association of independent intellectuals "Krug 99" sent him, objecting to the fact that principal war crimes suspects were still at large. Among other things, the association criticised Ashdown's cooperation with the three ruling national parties and accused him of being in alliance with them. In his response Ashdown dismissed the accusations, saying that democracy meant cooperation with those elected by the citizens of Bosnia-Herzegovina, regardless of whether one liked them or not. Acting otherwise would mean introducing a protectorate, he said. (hina) rml