Serbian security forces search factory for war criminal Mladic

Mladic, the 66-year old commander of the Bosnian Serb forces in the 1992-95 Bosnia war, was indicted in 1995 on genocide charges for the 43-month siege of Sarajevo and for orchestrating the Srebrenica massacre of about 8,000 Muslims. Â

 

Special police units entered the Vujic Valjevo window factory, a business believed to have been part of Mladic's support network.

 

"It is a part of an overall action to locate Ratko Mladic and those who had been providing financial support for his hiding," a source in the prosecutor's office told Reuters.

 

There were no reports of arrests and a Reuters cameraman said several white police vehicles left the factory after 3:30 p.m. (1430 GMT).

 

The arrest of Mladic is key for Serbia to join the European Union, a priority for the country's four-month-old government. Serbia said last week the search had been intensified.

 

"I haven't seen Mladic for a long time," factory owner Vidoje Vujic said, adding that he met Mladic's son last year.

 

He said police took his mobile phones and seized several pictures, including one of former Bosnian Serb parliament speaker Momcilo Krajisnik who is on trial in The Hague.

 

"Under the orders of the war crimes prosecution, the interior ministry is conducting a search of the Vujic Valjevo factory," the ministry has told AFP.

 

"We are verifying information according to which Mladic could be there," said a ministry source who requested anonymity.

 

Citing unnamed high-ranking officials from the interior ministry, Serbia's B92 television said the security services armed with automatic firearms were also hunting for people thought to have helped Mladic avoid justice.

 

Mladic, last seen in 1999, hid in Serbian army facilities until 2002, and later moved around several apartments in Belgrade's New Belgrade district.

 

Serbia had hoped that the July arrest of Radovan Karadzic would boost the country's EU aspirations, but the 27-nation bloc said Mladic must be arrested also.

 

The Hague Chief War Crimes Prosecutor Serge Brammertz is expected to visit Serbia next week to report on the Balkan country's progress in the hunt for Mladic and a second war crimes fugitive, Goran Hadzic.