Posted on 03/22/2007 8:41:56 AM PDT by Bokababe
Banjaluka, 22 March (AKI) - Former Bosnian Serb leader and top war crimes indictee Radovan Karadzic, made a secret deal with the United States in May 1996 to spare him from prosecution in return for abandoning politics and withdrawing from public life, Banjaluka weekly Fokus alleges in its latest issue. Karadzic and his wartime military commander Ratko Mladic are the two top fugitives wanted for trial at the United Nations Yugoslav war crimes tribunal in the Hague.
Fokus published what it claimed is a copy of the alleged pact signed by Karadzic and the chief US mediator in the Balkan conflicts, Richard Holbrooke (who later became US secretary of state). The pact states that Karadzic would be spared from prosecution by the UN tribunal if he resigned from the post of president of the Bosnian Serb entity Republika Srpska (RS), withdrew from politics and refrained from making public statements.
Contacted in the Serbian capital, Belgrade, Vladimir Nadezdin, former aid of Serbian foreign minister Milan Milutinovic on Thursday confirmed the existence of the document. “I’ve seen it with my own eyes,” he told Adnkronos International (AKI) on Thursday.
Karadzic disappeared in 1996, but Holbrooke has repeatedly denied the existence of a document such as that published by Fokus - rumours of which have been circulating for some time. Karadzic has been accused of genocide against Bosnian Muslims and is one of the six indictees accused by UN tribunal who are still at large.
According to Fokus, the document provided for a secure hideaway for Karadzic and a sum of 600,000 dollars to ensure his protection and "decent living conditions." The existence of a secret deal has been confirmed by Karadzic’s elder brother Luka. "I appeal to the honour, dignity and the office held by Richard Holbrooke to make public the details of the gentleman's agreement which he had signed with my brother Radovan,” Luka Karadzic told Fokus.
He said that several former Bosnian Serb officials and Nadezdin, could vouch for the existence of the alleged agreement between Karadic and Holbrooke.
Nadezdin, now working for a state trading company Progres, told AKI that Karadzic forwarded the document to former Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic who was later himself accused of war crimes and died in the Hague jail in March last year. “The document should still be in the foreign ministry archives, if it wasn’t destroyed in a suspicious fire there two years ago,” Nadezdin said.
He contested, however, Fokus' report that 600,000 dollars was part of the deal and said that Karadzic’s signature on the document published by Fokus seemed to have been forged, but could not explain the alleged discrepancies.
The behaviour of the international community, which seems to be giving priority to the arrest of Mladic over Karadic, is grist to the mill of those who believe in the existence of the alleged pact.
Could you imagine how the MSM would have been all over President Bush if he did something similar in Iraq?
Another Clintoon diplomatic trioomph!
Anybody with half a brain.
Cooperation is your obligation, and it is in your interests. You owe it to your neighbors and yourselves to make a real effort to arrest the fugitives and indicted criminals Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic and transfer them to The Hague. No man is above justice. As more and more Serbs say, no one should make a nation pay because he refuses to stand trial.
Daniel Fried, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, Belgrade, 3/7/07
But whatever - if you want to believe this BS, have at it. In fact, I encourage you to do so, as if you or any of your friends can get Karadzic to avail himself of this supposed immunity, you could pick up the $5 million reward we have in place for information leading to his arrest without having to worry about his ever being held accountable for his actions.
A few token ones, who like Naser Oric, will get off with time served -- if they are convicted at all --or if they are even charged.
Personally, I would have no problem whatever if this deal were made. But then to turn around and perpetually beat up Serbia for "not turning over Karadzic", if we were the ones helped him escape? That would be pretty sick.
Hopeless, you are really a simpleton when it comes to politics. Go take up crochet -- it's more your speed!
And you prefer fantasy to reality.
News flash, Boka - reality's always gonna win.
Yes, and they would have been all over it at the first whiff of a potential scandal, true or not.
Unfortunately, to a large extent, because Clinton's actions in the Balkans were never subject real scrutiny, I think that President Bush also thought that he might not be forced to answer a lot of hard questions re Iraq. But given the Liberal bent of the media, this was not true. What was true for the goose was not true for the gander. Clinton was literally allowed to get away with murder, while Bush gets grilled for every detail and potential detail.
"It just wasn't 'hip' to protest Clinton's wars." - Janeane Garofalo.
Yes, "reality" does win, Hopeless. And "reality" was that pre-Bush Sr., a policy of removing dictators from power by offering them a deal and not prosecuting them (or forcing them to be prosecuted), was official US policy for many years. The Shah of Iran & Marcos would good examples of that. Offer them deals to leave office and live out their lives in exile, thereby removing reasons and means for a civil war in their countries. There is even a specific doctrine in international relations that describes this policy, although I can't recall its name off the top of my head.
Bone up or shut up, Hopeless. You don't have a corner on "reality".
its a deal i believe and the 'beating up' is over Mladic and other stubborness the Serb govt has towards Kosovo and other anti-Serb policies.
What - like find, say, current statements from US officials pertaining to the matter or any potential rewards for Karadzic presently offered by the US Government?
What a wonderful idea - I doubt, however, that if I found them and provided them to you, that you'd take any note whatsoever, and would simply continue to exclude such facts or evidence from the bizarre process which you utilize to arrive at your opinions.
I didn't write the article, Hopeless. I posted it. "Who knows?" isn't exactly and argument "for it".
But as for the possibility of the US having one overt "foreign policy" for public consumption and another covert program that contradicts its other public policy statements -- nah that could never happen! Just ask Oliver North!
You're right - it's an admission that you lack the critical thinking and investigative skills to figure something out for yourself.
It is very simple and if brought to trial, the dirt will be aired and will be heard this time around with more credibility. Neither the Dems nor Republics want these two brought to trial.
The pot has spoken.
Oooh my, the thought that the US might not be 100% behind your Islamofascist heroes does bring out the "Lions & tigers & bears, oh my!" in you doesn't it? Kind of fun to watch!
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