BELGRADE, Yugoslavia — In a show of bravado, indicted wartime leader Radovan Karadzic invited U.N. lawyers to Bosnian Serb territory on Wednesday to investigate him before he decides whether to agree to stand trial, his closest aide said.
Momcilo Krajisnik, the Serb member of Bosnia’s three-man presidency, relayed the offer to U.N. human rights envoy Elisabeth Rehn during a meeting in Pale, Karadzic’s stronghold.
Karadzic proposed that Rehn interview him and his wartime military commander, Gen. Ratko Mladic, and mediate between the U.N. war crimes tribunal, on the one hand, and the two indicted suspects on the other, Krajisnik said.
Expressing his belief that the two would not be put on trial, Krajisnik said simply: “National heroes cannot be charged with war crimes.”
The U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, has indicted Karadzic on two counts of genocide, including charges that he is responsible for the deaths of thousands of non-Serbs during the 3 1/2-year Bosnian war. It also has filed two indictments against Mladic.
The tribunal rejected earlier Bosnian Serb suggestions that the two be allowed to stand trial in the Bosnian Serb substate rather than in The Hague.
Wednesday’s offer was the first in which Karadzic, who is in hiding, has said he is willing to be investigated before an actual trial. The tribunal was not expected to approve the latest offer, either, since it says it has already built a solid case that needs no further investigation.
Rehn, speaking by telephone en route to Geneva, told The Associated Press: “I am prepared to meet Karadzic and Gen. Mladic if my meeting with them would help to get them in front of The Hague war crimes tribunal. And I would only agree to it on that condition.”
Earlier in the day, Rehn expressed skepticism over Krajisnik’s promise that U.N. judges and non-Serb witnesses could be guaranteed safety in the Serb-controlled half of Bosnia.
Krajisnik’s comments indicated that Karadzic and his associates were feeling the pressure put on them by the international community, which has increasingly sided with Bosnian Serb President Biljana Plavsic in her power struggle against them.
Karadzic is barred from formal office as an indicted war crimes suspect, but still wields enormous influence over Bosnian Serb media and large portions of the police and military forces. Given his clout, Western forces have been reluctant to risk trying to capture him for trial.
The struggle for control of the Bosnian Serb substate was the focus of talks Wednesday between Carlos Westendorp, the top foreign diplomat in Bosnia, and Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic in Belgrade, a statement from Milosevic’s office said.
Krajisnik also went to Belgrade on Wednesday for talks with Milosevic.
Plavsic, meanwhile, appeared to be gaining influence. Late Tuesday, the top Bosnian Serb general appeared ready to mend relations with her and move away from the Karadzic camp.
After meeting her, Gen. Pero Colic, the army chief of staff, called her “supreme commander” — acknowledging Plavsic as his superior.
He also appeared to add his support to Plavsic’s choice for interior minister — who heads police — over the man appointed to the job by the Karadzic camp.
Colic’s switch to her side would further weaken Karadzic loyalists and help Western powers in the struggle to isolate the former Bosnian Serb leader.
Because Colic gets paid by Belgrade, it also could indicate that Milosevic — who continues to wield immense influence among Bosnian Serbs — is also switching loyalties from Karadzic to Plavsic.
Western powers back Plavsic, a wartime nationalist, because she is the only Bosnian Serb leader who will honor Bosnia’s peace accords and because they hope weakening Karadzic would make it easier for him to be handed over to the tribunal.
Faced with eroding influence, Bosnian Serb Prime Minister Gojko of the pro-Karadzic government, offered concessions Wednesday in Brcko, the site of anti-U.S. violence late last week.
He told Robert Farrand, the U.S. administrator of Brcko, that police in the town would cooperate with U.N. police, and authorities would stop stonewalling and issue proper documents to Muslim refugees wanting to return.
