SARAJEVO, Sept 20 (Hina) - The chief commander of NATO's Stabilisation Force (SFOR) in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Gen. John Sylvester, said on Friday his soldiers would continue with efforts to arrest all people indicted for war
crimes.
SARAJEVO, Sept 20 (Hina) - The chief commander of NATO's
Stabilisation Force (SFOR) in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Gen. John
Sylvester, said on Friday his soldiers would continue with efforts
to arrest all people indicted for war crimes. #L#
SFOR is actively searching for all indictees who are still at large,
the US general told reporters in Sarajevo, announcing the beginning
of "Dynamic Response", an exercise of NATO's strategic reserve
troops.
Sylvester recalled that 82 of 107 indictees were already in The
Hague or were killed while resisting arrest.
SFOR arrested 29 suspects and will resume such actions, he said.
Sylvester confirmed that he had written to the Hague-based UN war
crimes tribunal, objecting to the temporary release of Momcilo
Krajisnik, a Bosnian Serb arrested by SFOR two years ago.
He recalled that Krajisnik was charged with grave crimes such as
genocide, crimes against humanity, and serious breaches of Geneva
conventions.
Sylvester confirmed he would soon leave Bosnia to take the post of
chief-of-staff of US troops in Europe in Stuttgart, Germany. He
will be replaced as SFOR commander by William Ward, a general of US
land troops.
The "Dynamic Response" exercise is part of NATO's regular
activities and is not linked to concrete developments, such as
Bosnia's upcoming general election on Oct. 5, according to SFOR.
The exercise will engage 700 soldiers from Germany, Poland and
Romania, which are part of NATO's strategic reserve troops, which
number 4,500 soldiers from seven states.
(hina) ha sb