yugoslav wars

The Serbian war crimes prosecutor's office says police have detained nine ex-paramilitary fighters over the killing of some 200 civilians during Kosovo's war. Prosecutor Bruno Vekaric says altogether 26 former troops are under investigation for the atrocities in the western Kosovo village of Cuska in May 1999. Vekaric says that "horrific crimes were committed there."  

Bosnia's state prosecutor on Saturday indicted a former Serb police commander suspected of taking part in the killing of thousands of Muslims in Srebrenica in 1995, Europe's worst massacre since World War Two. Nedjo Ikonic, 45, has been in detention since his extradition to Bosnia in January from the United States, where he had been arrested on an international arrest warrant. According to the indictment, Ikonic was a commander of a special police brigade operating within the Serb Republic interior min  

The Serbian war crimes prosecutor's office says police have detained nine ex-paramilitary fighters over the killing of some 200 civilians during Kosovo's war. Prosecutor Bruno Vekaric says altogether 26 former troops are under investigation for the atrocities in the western Kosovo village of Cuska in May 1999. Vekaric says that "horrific crimes were committed there."  

A far-right group has put up placards in downtown Belgrade honoring Ratko Mladic, Europe's most wanted war crimes fugitive. The "Boulevard of Ratko Mladic" placards were placed over existing signs on a main street named after Serbia's first pro-democracy prime minister, Zoran Djindjic. Friday's action by the 1389 group _ on the seventh anniversary if Djindjic's assassination _ is another indication that Mladic still has considerable support among Serb ultranationalists.  

Croatia's Supreme court said Thursday it has reduced from seven to six years a jail term for an ex-general sentenced for war crimes committed on Serbs during the 1991-1995 war in this former Yugoslav republic. The court decided to reduce a prison term for former Croatian general Mirko Norac, 42, sentenced in May 2008 by a Zagreb court for war crimes against Serb civilians and prisoners of war during the conflict. It said that Norac was guilty of the crimes he had been charged with, but decided to acce  

Slovenia, which holds the EU presidency, is sticking to the signing of an EU accord with Serbia. This is against the wishes of the Netherlands, which will continue to object. Slovenia, which has held the EU presidency since 1 January, announced yesterday it wants to go ahead with the signing of the so-called stabilisation and association agreement (SAO), on 28 January.  

Van Mierlo, who died late Thursday, was foreign minister in 1995 when outnumbered and outgunned Dutch peacekeepers looked on helplessly as Bosnian Serb forces overran the Srebrenica enclave in Bosnia and went on to massacre some 8,000 Muslim men. He quit politics two years later. Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said in a statement Van Mierlo worked "with his heart and soul" for four decades to improve Dutch society.  

Bosnia's future is becoming increasingly uncertain. An ethnic veto has long made the central government ineffective, and, most recently, Milorad Dodik, the leader of the Serb-controlled entity, Republika Srpska, has responded to efforts at reform with a threat to hold a referendum on independence. Many consider secession unlikely, but Dodik's threat does heighten fear that today's fragile status quo could break down.  

Croatia's efforts in dealing with war crimes cases are insufficient and the country lacks the political will to efficiently handle them, human rights groups said on Thursday. The efforts undertaken by the authorities regarding war crimes cases are "slow and ... as a whole they are insufficient," three non-governmental organisations, led by Documenta, which monitors war crimes trials, said in a statement. They also warned against lack of "political will and strategy for efficient processing of war crim