EX BOSNIAN SERB LEADER PLAVSIC FLIES TO THE HAGUE

SARAJEVO, Jan 9 (Hina) - Biljana Plavsic, a former president of the Bosnian Serb entity, on Tuesday morning flew to The Hague to appear before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), Plavsic's close aide was quoted by BH-press agency as saying today. Her aide, Svetozar Mihajlovic, who is the vice-president of the Serb People's Alliance (SNS) at whose helm Plavsic used to be until recently, said she flew to the Netherlands aboard a plane ensured by the government of the Republic of Srpska. He added that Plavsic, as a suspect of war crimes, had travelled to The Hague. SNS another leader Branislav Lolic also confirmed her departure to the Netherlands, but he added that no official statement on this matter could be expected from this party until Wednesday. SENSE agency on Tuesday quoted the Dutch foreign ministry as saying that Biljana Plavsic had decided to turn herself in to the international court voluntarily. So far there has been no official explanation of her status before the ICTY, but in case she is treated as a suspect, Plavsic, who used to be a close aide of Bosnian Serb wartime leaders - Radovan Karadzic, Nikola Koljevic and Momcilo Krajisnik - can expect the same charges such as pressed against Krajisnik who is indicted of genocide and the gravest violations of the international humanitarian law. Being asked by Hina to confirm Plavsic's arrival, the ICTY Chief Prosecutor's office declined to say whether she was in The Hague. (hina) sb ms