Serbia, Bosnia invitation criticised

NATO: Carla del Ponte, the United Nations' chief war crimes prosecutor, criticised Nato's invitation to Serbia and Bosnia to take the first step towards membership of the military alliance, calling it an apparent reward for their failure to catch war crimes suspects.

However, the decision was warmly welcomed in Belgrade, where it is expected to boost pro-western political parties in January's general election, when they will face a tough battle with ultra-nationalist followers of former president Slobodan Milosevic.

"The prosecutor is very surprised by the decision," said Ms del Ponte's spokesman.

"She regrets that it was made, that Nato changed its position, because it looks like a reward for not fully co-operating with the prosecutor."

Ms del Ponte has accused the government and security forces of Serbia and Bosnia of doing far too little to catch Gen Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic, the military and political leaders of the Bosnian Serbs during that country's 1992-95 war.

Both are accused of genocide in connection with the 1995 massacre of Muslims at Srebrenica.

The Nato decision came just a day after an ex-army colonel charged with helping Gen Mladic evade capture accused Serb prime minister Vojislav Kostunica and other top officials of doing nothing to catch the fugitive when they knew where he was living.

"The Yugoslav president at the time, Kostunica, military security chief Aco Tomic, army chief of staff Nebojsa Pavkovic and the supreme defence council knew then that Mladic was freely staying in military facilities," Srboljub Nikolic told a Belgrade court, referring to the period until mid-2002, six years after Gen Mladic was indicted.

"More than 500 people knew where Mladic was," said Col Nikolic, one of 11 people charged with helping the general to remain on the run.

Serbia's president Boris Tadic hailed as "great news" Nato's decision to invite his country and its neighbours to join the so-called "Partnership for Peace" programme, but insisted that it would not blunt the drive to catch Gen Mladic and his allies.

"The failure to fulfil our obligations towards the [ UN court] has been a reason for not being admitted in the programme before," said Mr Tadic.