Press Release (97)85 10 July 1997

Statement by the Secretary General of NATO, Mr. Javier Solana on actions by SFOR to detain indicted war criminals at Prijedor Today, 10 July 1997, SFOR acted to detain two persons indicted for war crimes at PRIJEDOR in Bosnia-Herzegovina. This action was undertaken under SFOR's mandate which authorizes it to detain indicted war criminals when encountered in the course of its duties. It was within the mandate given to SFOR by the NAC under authority contained in the relevant Security Council Resolutions. In the course of the action, SFOR troops returned fire in self defence after one of the indictees fired at them following a clear oral challenge. The two individuals were indicted by the ICTY for complicity in genocide. I should like to praise the SFOR troops and their commanders for the professionalism and dedication with which they have carried out this operation. We are following the situation very closely. As has been the case throughout the IFOR/SFOR mission, we will not tolerate any behaviour by any of the parties contrary to the Dayton Peace Agreement. SACEUR, as overall operational Commander for SFOR, has fully briefed the Secretary General on this incident.