Del Ponte's report on Serbia to be positive

Del Ponte's report on Serbia to be positive

Del Ponte added she would include her positive assessment into her report she would then submit to the UN Security Council on June 18.

“I expect that other indictees, including Ratko Mladić, will soon be located and arrested,” she said, adding that the arrest of former Bosnian Serb general Zdravko Tolimir showed clearly what the authorities could do.

“I believe Serbian authorities have the political willingness necessary to do so. I was sure that relevant institutions had the technical capacity to make arrests. However, I had my doubts about the political resolve to do so,” she said.

“I think now is a right time for it, as the new government expressed genuine willingness to achieve full cooperation. What is important for me is that the government reached a consensus regarding President Tadić’s chairmanship over the National Security Council. This institution can be very important for the full cooperation to be achieved,” Del Ponte stressed.

She said she was surprised at the arrest of Tolimir, adding that it could not have been done without the cooperation between Serbian and Republic of Srpska (RS) institutions.

“During my stay here I’ve received numerous pieces of information concerning circumstances of Tolimir’s arrest. How and where he was arrested is of no importance to me, as long as he ended up in The Hague,” Del Ponte underscored.

“I want results, now”

Carla Del Ponte told a news conference after meeting with President Boris Tadić that her report, due to be presented to the UN Security Council on June 18, will reflect the “positive steps” Serbia achieved so far, and will explain what the government in Belgrade plans to do until then.

Del Ponte spoke in Serbian when she told the conference, “I want results… now.”

She confirmed that she had extended her congratulations to BIA chief Rade Bulatović over the arrest of former Bosnian Serb Army (VRS) general, Zdravko Tolimir.

Tadić told journalists the government invited Hague’s chief prosecutor to visit Belgrade before Tolimir was arrested, and added there was “absolute harmony” in the state institution’s resolve to finalize the cooperation with the Tribunal.

Asked whether that meant such cooperation was lacking before, Tadić said, “In this way, certainly, and unfortunately.”

“As for the search for Mladić, that is now in the hands of the police and the security services, operating within the Council for National Security,” Tadić told journalists.

Tadić declined to comment on claims that Tolimir was in fact arrested in Belgrade, and not in Bosnia, as was officially announced.

Mladić arrest matter of few weeks?

Earlier, the Financial Times reported Del Ponte as saying Ratko Mladić could be arrested within the next several weeks.

“If Serbia’s officials continue to move in this direction in which they showed that they can move, I will be able to write a positive report for the EU at the end of the week,” Del Ponte said.

“We received some concrete signs of good cooperation,” she said, adding that she hopes Mladić will be extradited before her term as chief prosecutor ends in September.

“Today, I am much more optimistic that we will reach our goals,” Del Ponte said.

The daily also said that Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica, who was not ready to arrest Hague fugitives earlier, “now openly speaks about doing so,” Del Ponte said.

The paper noted that Del Ponte used a similar tone in late 2005 when Croatian general Ante Gotovina was arrested.

She also said that she agrees with the European Union’s decision to continue talks with Serbia in light of the new government’s “concrete results.”

Del Ponte began a four-day visit to Belgrade on Monday. She is scheduled to meet with Serbian President Boris Tadić today.