RATKO Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb leader accused of ordering Europe's worst massacre of civilians since the Second World War, has been arrested after 16 years on the run.
Europe’s most wanted man, known as the Butcher of Srebrenica, who faces charges over the massacre of 8000 Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica in 1995, was arrested by Serbian security forces in the village of Lazarevo, 60 miles north of the capital, Belgrade.
Mladic, 69, the highest-ranking war crimes suspect to remain at large after the wars that accompanied the break-up of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, had been living in a relative’s single-storey yellow brick house under the assumed name of Milorad Komadic. He was said to have been co-operative.
A spokeswoman for the families of Srebrenica victims, Hajra Catic, said: “After 16 years of waiting, for us, the victims’ families, this is a relief.”
David Cameron hailed the arrest, warning it should serve as a lesson to the likes of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. The Prime Minister said the capture of Mladic, who now faces trial at The Hague for crimes including the Srebrenica massacre, was “excellent news”.
US President Barack Obama congratulated the Serbian Government, adding: “Today is an important day for the families of Mladic’s many victims, for Serbia, for Bosnia, for the United States, and for international justice.
“Mladic will now have to answer to his victims, and the world, in a court of law.”
The fugitive’s arrest was announced just hours before the arrival in Belgrade of European Union foreign policy chief Baroness Ashton to discuss his country’s application for membership of the EU.
The EU said handing Mladic over to face justice was a condition of Serbia progressing to the status of formal candidate for accession, and European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso suggested the arrest would smooth the way for eventual membership.
Serbia’s President Boris Tadic said British and American intelligence had assisted Serbian state security in the operation to find Mladic and the process to extradite the army chief to the war crimes tribunal in The Hague was under way.
“All war criminals must face justice,” Mr Tadic said
“We have ended a difficult period of our history and removed the stain from the face of Serbia and the members of our nation wherever they live.”
The commander of the Bosnian Serb army during the war of 1992-95 has been on the run since 1995, after he was indicted on charges of crimes against humanity by the United Nations war crimes tribunal at the Hague.
If convicted of genocide and other charges, Mladic faces life imprisonment.
He appeared in a special war crimes court in Belgrade within hours of his arrest to be quizzed by an investigative judge.
Serbian TV last night showed footage of Mr Mladic wearing a baseball cap and walking slowly with a slight limp.
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