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| Serbian police step up search for top war crimes suspect: PM
BELGRADE, Oct 22 (AFP) - Serbian police on Wednesday stepped up their search for top Bosnian Serb war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladic, a former military leader, Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Zivkovic was quoted as saying by Beta news agency. Police acted "on an anonymous tip-off," Zivkovic said. BizVantage – Serious business, investment and technology intelligence for a serious advantage. "This is nothing new, we react to every tip-off that sounds serious and the international community representatives are aware of that," he added. Zivkovic would not give more details. "Believe me that it has happened, but I cannot say anything more than that, " he said. Serbian police would continue its investigation into Mladic's "presence" in Serbia. "If not every day, we will do it at least three times a week," he said. The Bosnian Serb military chief during the 1992-95 war, Mladic has been charged with genocide in connection with the massacre of 7,000 Muslim men and boys in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica. Officials with the UN criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, based in The Hague, have repeatedly claimed that Mladic is hiding in Serbia, an allegation Belgrade denies. The police action came just two days after the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) issued fresh indictments against four Serbian generals who served in Kosovo during the 1998-99 war. Amont the four, accused of having taken part in "a campaign of terror and violence against Kosovo Albanians" in 1999 are Deputy Interior Minister Sreten Lukic and former Yugoslav army chief Nebojsa Pavkovic. Following the indictments, US ambassador-at-large for war crimes, Pierre-Richard Prosper, was quoted as saying that the four generals could be tried in local courts if Mladic was arrested. "Serbia-Montenegro would in that case be granted an opportunity to show The Hague tribunal that it is capable of handling cases of war crimes suspects before local courts," Prosper told Beta. But spokeswoman for chief ICTY prosecutor Carla Del Ponte said there was no question of domestic trials. "The prosecutor's position is clear: the four suspects should not and cannot be judged in Serbia," Florence Hartmann said. A Serbian newspaper poll earlier showed that the vast majority of Serbs would not tell police if they knew Mladic's whereabouts. Most of the 300 people surveyed in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia said they would probably shake his hand or buy him a drink, and half said they would actively help him avoid arrest. Only 14.5 percent of those polled said they would denounce the fugitive general to police or support his extradition to The Hague. But even then, half of these respondents said they would be motivated by material reward and not by any desire to see justice done for the victims of Europe's worst atrocity since World War II. ks/smc/cml/an/gk Warcrimes-Serbs-Mladic
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