28 Feb. 2002

Bosnia snatch operations NATO troops in the multinational Stabilisation Force (SFOR) made two attempts to arrest Radovan Karadzic, the most senior war crimes suspect still at liberty in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Acting on intelligence reports, combined air and ground forces swooped on the village of Celebici, about 10 kilometres from the border with the Yugoslav republic of Montenegro in Republika Srpska, Bosnia's Serb-dominated entity on both 28 February and 1 March. Although the fugitive evaded capture, the snatch operations demonstrated Alliance resolve to bring him and all indictees to justice. NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson promised that the operations "would not be the last" and said: "NATO is closing in on him. There is no escape. There is no place to hide." Karadzic, the Bosnian Serb leader during Bosnia's 1992-95 war, is wanted for genocide and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague. Additional information: The official webmodule of the Stabilisation Force (SFOR) in Bosnia-Herzegovina SFOR Operation in Bosnia-Herzegovina - 28 Feb. 2002 SFOR News Release - 1 Mar. 2002 Photos of the operation The official website of the International Criminal Tribunal on the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) The General Framework Agreement ("Dayton Accords")