BOSNIA: FRENCH OFFICER LEAKED NATO PLANS TO CAPTURE KARADZIC

Описание: (23 Apr 1998) English/Nat

NATO forces called off an operation to capture former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic last summer, after learning that a French military officer had secretly met the indicted war criminal.

An article in Thursday's Washington Post said U-S officials believed the French Army Major, Herve Gourmelon, may have leaked plans about the military operation to Karadzic.

In Sarajevo on Thursday, an S-FOR spokesman refused to comment on the newspaper article, but denied there was a rift between U-S and French officers in NATO.

Thursday's Washington Post article quoted U-S diplomatic sources as saying French Army Major Herve Gourmelon had leaked plans for the arrest of former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic.

At a news conference in Sarajevo on Thursday, an S-FOR spokesman refused to comment on the article.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"I am aware of the article in the Washington Post, and I am aware of the individual named in that article. We do not want to comment on the paper article. However, I would say that any operation to the detention will be within our mandate, and cooperation between all nations in the alliance is as strong as it has ever been."
SUPER CAPTION: Major Peter Clarke, S-FOR spokesman

But the S-FOR spokesman denied there was a rift between U-S and French officers in NATO.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"Allegations that the relationship between U-S and French officers within the coalition are stranded and at best unworkable are completely ridiculous. The alliance is strong, and COMSFOR (S-FOR Commanders) is completely satisfied that the French officers within his command work for him, as do the Americans."
SUPER CAPTION: Major Peter Clarke, S-FOR spokesman

Karadzic was last seen in public in September 1996, but is widely believed to be in Bosnia in a zone controlled by the French.

He has been indicted by the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal in The Hague on two counts of genocide.

Karadzic is charged with being responsible for the deaths of thousands of non-Serbs during the Bosnian war, which ended in 1995.

French Army Major Herve Gourmelon is accused of passing information to Karadzic relating to NATO's efforts to arrest the former Bosnian Serb president.

The French government acknowledged an officer made contact with Karadzic, but denied that the contact had in any way compromised attempts to make an arrest.

It said Gourmelon was operating on his own and has since been transferred back to France.

The decision to suspend the raid was made by U-S Army General Wesley Clark, the supreme allied commander of NATO.

He believed NATO troops might be exposed to a counterattack from Karadzic's forces.

The French directly command NATO troops patrolling the town of Pale - Karadzic's stronghold where he is believed to be hiding.

Any military raid to capture him would involve the use of hundreds of heavily armed soldiers.

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