BANJA LUKA: DEL PONTE DEMANDS KARADZIC'S ARREST

SARAJEVO/BANJA LUKA, Feb 15 (Hina) - The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY), Carla del Ponte, said in Banja Luka on Friday she was very dissatisfied and frustrated with the failure of Bosnian Serb authorities to cooperate with the tribunal and demanded the arrest of war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic. Del Ponte said she had explicitly requested the highest Bosnian Serb officials to take measures as soon as possible with the aim of arresting the Bosnian Serb leader. We know for sure that Karadzic is in Republika Srpska. We want the authorities of Republika Srpska to finally establish his whereabouts and arrest him, del Ponte said after meeting Republika Srpska President Mirko Sarovic and Prime Minister Mladen Ivanic. She confirmed that she had handed the authorities in Banja Luka a request for the hand-over of 16 persons who were suspected of war crimes and were known to reside in the Bosnian Serb entity. However, Prime Minister Ivanic reiterated he did not know Karadzic's whereabouts. "We do not know where he is. If somebody knows his whereabouts, they should tell us and we will take measures which will prove our readiness to cooperate with the Hague tribunal," Ivanic said. (hina) sb rml