Rumors swirling in Balkans around
war crime suspect’s whereabouts
By Ward Sanderson,
Bosnia bureau
Ivana Avramovic / Stars and Stripes
Rumors are flying through Yugoslavia about the attempted arrest of Radovan Karadzic, a
wartime political leader of Bosnian Serbs. At right is the picture of Karadzic as shown on
the poster of persons publicly indicted of war crimes in Yugoslavia and is printed by the
Stabilization Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina. At left is the reconstruction of what
Karadzic looks like today based on the description of his friends. |
TUZLA, Bosnia and Herzegovina — Bosnians in the country’s
second-biggest city know that today, war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic looks like the
villain he is: Lex Luthor.
The theory that the former Bosnian Serb politico has shaved his nest
of curls and gone chrome-dome for stealth is just one of many whirling around the Balkans.
It’s a hurricane of hypotheses blowing from Belgrade to Brcko to Banja Luka and back
— and so far the theories have proved to be only hot air.
The latest conspiracy suggests Karadzic is now bald and masquerading
as a man of the cloth. Last week’s Slobodna Bosna newspaper ran a front-page photo of
the former strongman, sporting an obviously doctored dome and frock.
Ever since former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic set foot in The
Hague, Bosnians have readied for the news that his alleged conspirators soon will join
him. Although peacekeepers hope the suspects turn themselves in, they say they have no
info on the recent spate of stories.
“Each rumor started to fuel more rumors,” said Air Force
Capt. John Ruth, a military spokesman in Sarajevo. Ruth received from 20 to 40 calls per
day during a recent rumor rampage. “There were conflicting reports about British
special forces groups.”
Britain’s Observer and a Montenegrin newspaper both published
pieces on attempts to bring Karadzic in. The Montenegrin journal said 10 British troops
were killed while attempting an arrest.
Soon word was on the street: Ten troops dead! Or was it two? Or,
Wait! They really bagged Karadzic!
Peackeepers said none of the stories –— which relied
heavily on secret sources — proved true.
“They had blank checks to report, well, whatever,” Ruth
said.
Other reporters descended on Eagle Base, near Tuzla, on a hunch that
troops held Karadzic there. Milosevic had been detained there en route to The Hague.
“There were media reports, apparently, that [Karadzic] had been apprehended,”
said Army Maj. Rob Palmer, base spokesman. “The assumption was, since he had not been
taken to The Hague, that he had been taken to Eagle Base.”
But — mess hall to hot dog stand — affairs at Eagle were
business as usual.
The commander of U.S. forces in Bosnia, Maj. Gen. Walter L. Sharp,
said he has no intelligence reports about imminent arrests or surrenders.
“I don’t know anything more than you’ve read in the
papers,” Sharp said. He added that he hopes Bosnian police will do any nabbing or,
better yet, that those wanted will simply call it quits.
“Hopefully, they will turn themselves in,” Sharp said.
Despite the lack of credibility in some of the news flurry, there are
signs a war crimes suspect just can’t kick back these days. The prime minister of the
Serb Republic, Mladen Ivanic, recently vowed to sack any police officers failing to arrest
war crimes suspects — strong words considering this country’s recent past.
In Tuzla — a city mostly of Muslims and Croats — opinions
range from breezy laissez faire to convictions that the day of justice is nigh.
“Don’t listen to too many rumors,” warned a woman
running a tidy florist shop. “People are obsessed with this.”
For her part, she had had enough. She was a Croat. Her husband was
Muslim. Their adopted child was a Serb. The partisan war was in her rear-view mirror and
she couldn’t drive fast enough.
“I don’t care about his stuff,” she said. “I only
care about flowers, youth and people.”
She ended her discourse with the following advice: “If
you’re not in love, fall in love.”
Haris Rustemovic, 22, stopped beneath the boughs of a tree during a
rain-slicked, downtown stroll. He didn’t feel peacekeepers would nab Karadzic without
orders from politicians abroad. But he feared Karadzic might head to Greece to seek asylum
in a monastery.
An arrest “would be difficult then,” he said.
“He’d be a monk.”
“It will happen,” another stroller, Muhamed Junuzovic,
predicted of the arrests. “But I don’t think the police will do it.”
“They will be arrested soon. We had bad weather, so they
waited,” said a 62-year-old farmer wearing the top to a U.S. Army uniform. Then the
man — “Sgt. Rudy” — according to his insignia — warned of the
price of arresting thugs.
Another older man came striding up the street, roller-skating girl at
his arm, both smiling under umbrellas. This happy man volunteered to take care of Karadzic
himself.
“They should allow me to get him. I spent time in a
concentration camp.”
The smile didn’t even flicker.
“I’m old, 67,” he said. “But my soul’s still
going. They couldn’t destroy my soul.”
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