DEL PONTE: GENERAL STIPETIC IS NO LONGER UNDER INVESTIGATION

WASHINGTON, May 8 (Hina) - General Petar Stipetic is no longer being investigated by the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY), ICTY Chief Prosecutor Carla del Ponte said in Washington on Tuesday. Speaking at a brief news conference after a meeting with US Secretary of State Colin Powell, del Ponte said Stipetic had been under investigation but had never been accused of possible war crimes. She said that it had been decided after interviews with Stipetic and others that he should no longer be subject to any investigation by the ICTY. During her meeting with Powell, the ICTY prosecutor demanded more decisive action by the international community, particularly the Stabilisation Force and NATO, in apprehending indicted war criminals in Bosnia and elsewhere. Over the past several days, del Ponte expressed her dissatisfaction on several occasions with the fact that criminals like Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic were still free years after indictments had been issued against them. Powell and del Ponte also discussed the hand-over of Slobodan Milosevic to the ICTY and other topics from ICTY's jurisdiction. The State Department has officially announced that Powell will meet Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica on Wednesday. One of the main topics to be discussed at their meeting is the hand-over of the former Yugoslav president Milosevic to the Hague tribunal. (hina) rml