““This is a bad, bad guy,’’ said a White House aide, avoiding any expression of regret over the death. Meanwhile, a second suspect, Milan Kovacevic, offered no resistance when he was arrested 16 miles away at his office at the Prijedor Hospital. NATO troops whisked him off to The Hague to stand trial on charges of “‘complicity in genocide.’’ Kovacevic allegedly ran the Omarska concentration camp in Prijedor.
For 19 months NATO’s Bosnia Stabilization Force (SFOR) said troops would arrest those indicted for war crimes only if they bumped into them - something that somehow never happened. The men weren’t hiding: NEWSWEEK was able to obtain the home phone numbers and work addresses for many of those featured on NATO’s most-wanted posters (below). So what changed last week? According to a top Clinton aide, the president discussed the Bosnia fugitives with British Prime Minister Tony Blair before the recent NATO summit in Madrid. After the meeting, officials began maintaining that the rules of engagement in Bosnia have always permitted commanders to make arrests if they can do so safely.
Taking on the big fish, who have private militias, won’t be so easy. For now, the strategy will be to pick off those who let their guard down. That won’t satisfy The Hague tribunal, but at least it represents a start at bringing the fugitives to justice.
