SARAJEVO, Oct 29 (Hina) - The NATO-led Stabilisation Force (SFOR) commander, General William Ward, on Tuesday said the international community was impatiently waiting for results of an investigation which Bosnian Serb authorities were
carrying out into the sale of arms to Iraq.
SARAJEVO, Oct 29 (Hina) - The NATO-led Stabilisation Force (SFOR)
commander, General William Ward, on Tuesday said the international
community was impatiently waiting for results of an investigation
which Bosnian Serb authorities were carrying out into the sale of
arms to Iraq. #L#
At a news conference held in Sarajevo, the US General once again
warned that he would use his powers as the SFOR commander to take
necessary measures in case the authorities in the Republic of
Srpska failed do everything to clarify the scandal and punish those
responsible.
He added that the case of the illegal trade of arms and military
equipment between the factory "Orao" in the north-eastern town of
Bijeljina and Iraq showed that it was necessary for Bosnia to have
control mechanisms over the military and the military industry on
the state level.
Washington expects of Bosnian authorities to take an initiative in
that direction, the SFOR commander said, explaining that this
referred to the establishment of a state defence ministry to
replace the two entity defence ministries as at the moment only
entity authorities control the armies.
Ward, who took the office of SFOR commander earlier this month, said
international troops under his command would continue actively
searching for notorious war crimes suspects, including Radovan
Karadzic.
(hina) ms sb