Serbian official's resignation "more likely" than arrest of Mladic

Dec 15, 2009, 11:57 GMT

Belgrade - The Serbian minister responsible for pursuing fugitive war criminals on Monday signaled the fading prospects for the capture this year of Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic, saying his own resignation 'was more likely' than Mladic's arrest.

Rasim Ljajic has repeatedly promised to resign if Serbia fails in 2009 to arrest Mladic and another suspect, Goran Hadzic. The delivery of war crime suspects is the biggest obstacle to Serbia's closer ties with the European Union.

'It is more likely that I will resign, than that Ratko Mladic and Goran Hadzic will turn up in The Hague before the year ends,' Ljajic said in an interview with the daily Danas.

'Still,' Ljajic added, 'let us wait out the end of the year.'

He refused to speak about details in the search for the fugitive war criminals.

The EU recently unblocked a trade agreement with Serbia, following the report by UN tribunal's chief prosecutor, Serge Brammertz, who said Belgrade was doing everything possible to bring fugitives to justice.

However, arrests are a condition for Serbia to gain the status of a membership candidate.

Mladic has been accused of atrocities such as the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of 8,000 Muslims and three years of shelling and sniping of Sarajevo.