Search for war crimes fugitive proves fruitless

SERBIA launched a major search yesterday for war crimes fugitive General Ratko Mladic, sending scores of special police to comb through a western town on orders from Serbia’s war crimes prosecutor.

The search focused on the town of Valjevo — a town previously mentioned as one of the possible hiding places for the former Bosnian Serb army commander. Amateur video posted on YouTube showed masked special police searching a furniture factory compound.

A source close to the police said Mladic was not found after the operation. He said the hunt also focused on people who are believed to be helping Mladic evade justice.