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UN prosecutor tells EU to sign no deal with Serbia until arrest of Mladic |
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08:25, July 04, 2007 |
The European Union should not sign an initial pact for future membership with Serbia until the arrest and transfer of fugitive former Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic, chief UN war crimes prosecutor Carla Del Ponte said on Tuesday.
"There should be no signing of a stabilization agreement with Serbia without the arrest and transfer of Mladic," Del Ponte, told reporters at the European Policy Center after talks with EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn.
Signing a stabilization agreement with the EU is the first step for countries to join the 27-nation bloc.
The EU froze talks last spring on a stabilization pact with Serbia, citing Belgrade's failure to arrest indicted war criminals, notably Mladic, who is charged with genocide over the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of 8,000 Bosnian Muslims.
But negotiations were restarted this month following the arrest of Bosnian Serb general Zdravko Tolimir, a close Mladic aide.
Although the EU insisted on Serbia's full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) as a precondition for the conclusion of the agreement, it failed to make it clear whether full cooperation should lead to Mladic's arrest.
Some EU countries tend to take a softer line with Belgrade on the issue since they want to exchange for concession from Serbia on the independence of Kosovo.
Del Ponte, who led the ICTY's prosecution, warned that if the EU failed to insist on Mladic's arrest, there would be a "terrible legacy" for the region.
Source: Xinhua
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