Threats to Serbian officials come from abroad

Rasim Ljajic said that after Radovan Karadzic's arrest he and other top officials received “very serious threats” "For three days the phones practically didn’t stop ringing. We’ve reported everything to the police, and the investigation is ongoing," he said. Threats to Serbian officials come from abroad "So far, it’s been discovered that the calls came from abroad and not from Serbia,” head of the National Council for Cooperation with the Hague Tribunal Rasim Ljajic told Sarajevo daily Dnevni Avaz. He added that the some calls came from the Republic of Srpska, RS. Ljajic did specify which group stood behind the calls, but added that, based on the received calls, "it was clear that everything was organized.” "The worst thing is that now we have very bad political climate, the worst since the murder of [Prime Minister Zoran] Djindjic. We have a dramatic growth of political tensions and it is certain that such statements only contribute to heated passions, even though it is very clear that anybody who might be in power in Serbia, would have to do this job, to extradite people sought by he Hague,” Ljajic said. He added that another war crimes suspect – Ratko Mladic – would be arrested as soon as he is located. Ljajic said that he did not know where the former Bosnian Serb military leade was hiding, but conceded that “everybody expected Mladic to be arrested before Karadzic”. "Security services had focused most of their capacities on Mladic. However, a set of circumstances gave us a lead that brought us to Karadzic. This proves that we do not choose which suspected war criminal to arrest, nor the time and the place of their arrest. Same goes for Mladic, and [Goran] Hadzic,“ Ljajic concluded.

Threats to Serbian officials come from abroad

"So far, it’s been discovered that the calls came from abroad and not from Serbia,” head of the National Council for Cooperation with the Hague Tribunal Rasim Ljajič told Sarajevo daily Dnevni Avaz.

He added that the some calls came from the Republic of Srpska, RS.

Ljajić did specify which group stood behind the calls, but added that, based on the received calls, "it was clear that everything was organized.”

"The worst thing is that now we have very bad political climate, the worst since the murder of [Prime Minister Zoran] Đinđić. We have a dramatic growth of political tensions and it is certain that such statements only contribute to heated passions, even though it is very clear that anybody who might be in power in Serbia, would have to do this job, to extradite people sought by he Hague,” Ljajić said.

He added that another war crimes suspect – Ratko Mladić – would be arrested as soon as he is located. Ljajić said that he did not know where the former Bosnian Serb military leade was hiding, but conceded that “everybody expected Mladić to be arrested before Karadžić”.

"Security services had focused most of their capacities on Mladić. However, a set of circumstances gave us a lead that brought us to Karadžić. This proves that we do not choose which suspected war criminal to arrest, nor the time and the place of their arrest. Same goes for Mladić, and [Goran] Hadžić,“ Ljajić concluded.