U.N. prosecutor urges faster Serbia war crimes action

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A U.N. prosecutor demanded on Monday that Serbia take a "more proactive approach" to arrest two remaining war crimes fugitives from the Balkan wars -- a key condition for Belgrade's eventual EU membership.

Stepping up pressure on the former Yugoslav state, Serge Brammertz told the U.N. Security Council that Serbia's failure to arrest Ratko Mladic and Goran Hadzic "is one of our foremost concerns."

"Time is passing and we are not seeing results," said Brammertz, chief U.N. prosecutor for war crimes committed in the conflicts that raged after Yugoslavia disintegrated in the early 1990s.

The Hague-based U.N. court has indicted Mladic, a former Bosnian Serb military commander, for genocide in the 1995 massacre of 8,000 Muslims in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica and the 1992-95 siege of Sarajevo.

Hadzic, who led a Serb enclave in Croatia, is wanted for his alleged role in the killing of Croatian civilians. Both he and Mladic are widely thought to be hiding in Serbia.

In October, European Union foreign ministers asked the bloc's executive commission to consider starting entry talks with Serbia but warned Belgrade that any further progress would depend on its full cooperation with the U.N. tribunal.

"Serbia must bridge the gap between its stated commitment to the arrests and the effectiveness of its operation on the ground," Brammertz told the Security Council in a six-monthly report on the tribunal.

While Serbia was working to implement recommendations by the tribunal on the hunt for the fugitives, "there is still much left to be done and the progress must be faster," Brammertz said. "Overall Serbia needs to adopt a more proactive approach to arresting the fugitives."

SERBIA HOLDS THE KEY

In addition to hunting for Mladic and Hadzic, Belgrade should take "a rigorous approach" to dealing with individuals and networks supporting the fugitives, the prosecutor said.

"The Serbian authorities must clearly signal that those who harbor the fugitives will be punished," Brammertz said, adding that Serbia "holds the key" to arresting the two men.

Serbia's U.N. Ambassador, Feodor Starcevic, played down differences with the tribunal, telling the council that "there is a political will in Serbia to resolve this problem."

"The unambiguous determination of Serbia that the two remaining fugitives should be brought to justice ... gives us reason to expect that the results awaited by both the tribunal and Serbia will be achieved," he said. He set no date.

Serbian officials say Mladic, the better known of the two fugitives, hid in Serbian army barracks until 2002 under the protection of military and state security hardliners before going underground.

Investigators believe he is likely to be hiding in or around Belgrade.

In his address to the council, Brammertz said the international community also had a role to play in prodding Serbia to make a greater effort to arrest Mladic and Hadzic.

"With your assistance and the effective implementation of conditionality policies, positive incentives can be given to Serbia to precipitate the arrests," he said without elaborating.

Largely because of the fugitives issue, Serbia is near the back of the line of ex-Yugoslav states seeking to join the EU. One of them, Slovenia, is already a member.

(Editing by Paul Simao)