Serbian war crime suspect taken into custody

SERBIAN war crimes suspect Miroslav Radic, wanted for the killing of civilians and prisoners of war in Croatia in 1991, has handed himself over to authorities in Belgrade, the Beta news agency reported yesterday.

Quoting Serbian government sources, Beta said that Radic, a member of the so-called Vukovar Three, was brought before an investigative judge in Belgrade.

No more details were available, and police confirmed the report only on condition of anonymity.

The UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague has indicted three former Yugoslav army officers Radic, Veselin Sljivancanin and Mile Mrksic for the deaths of some 200 non-Serbs near the eastern Croatian town of Vukovar in November 1991.

Mrksic surrendered to the tribunal last year, while Sljivancanin is still at large.

The Serb reformers who ousted former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic have been under intense Western pressure to step up cooperation with the tribunal.

But many ordinary Serbs believe the UN court is biased against them.

The assassination last month of reformist Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, however, sparked a renewed effort among ruling reformers to arrest and transfer Serbians accused of atrocities during the 1990s Balkan wars.

The government has blamed Djindjic's murder on a powerful criminal group linked to a battle-hardened special police unit set up during Milosevic's rule.

Officials said those behind the killing were also involved in war crimes and wanted to bring down the government.

On April 14, the parliament of Serbia and Montenegro cleared the way for its nationals to be extradited to the tribunal.