NATO search fails to find Karadzic

A NATO swoop in eastern Bosnia today failed to find Radovan Karadzic, the UN war crimes court’s most wanted man.

Troops poured out of helicopters and armoured vehicles into the area in the belief that the man accused of genocide during the bloody Bosnia war was hiding in a village.

But after a few hours Nato declared they had not found the former Bosnian Serb leader.

NATO spokesman Yves Brodeur said: ‘‘We had received information before that he actually might have been there, but he was not found there.’’

Hopes had been high that one of the architects of the Bosnian wars might be brought to face justice alongside Slobodan Milosevic at The Hague tribunal.

Nato spokesmen provided few details about what was a substantial attempt to catch the 57-year-old former psychiatrist.

The sweep indicates ‘‘the resolve of NATO to arrest persons indicted for war crimes, who do not voluntarily surrender,’’ Brodeur said. ‘‘We remain determined to arrest persons indicted for war crimes.’’

Brodeur said NATO peacekeepers found three illegal weapons depots, but provided no more details.

Bosnian Serb TV earlier reported explosions and gunfire near the village of Celebici, 45 miles southeast of Sarajevo, adding that two Nato helicopters had landed nearby. It also said that peacekeepers were entering schools and homes in the area.

Armoured vehicles had driven through Foca shortly after the start of the operation, apparently en route to Celebici to the northwest, and electricity was cut off, said the report.

Roads toward Celebici were blocked 25 miles away from the village and the local population was told not to leave their homes. Local phone lines were also cut, said reporters approaching the region.

To the west, Nato helicopters were seen leaving Mostar airport, some 50 miles from Celebici.

In Belgrade, the state Yugoslav news agency Tanjug reported a ‘‘large’’ peacekeeping force in the region where it was ‘‘claimed earlier that Karadzic was hiding.’’

Karadzic and his wartime military commander, General Ratko Mladic, were allies of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.

Karadzic and Mladic - who is also still at large - are charged with genocide and crimes against humanity in Bosnia during the more than three year war that began in 1992 when the republic declared independence from Yugoslavia.

The war pitted Bosnian Serbs, Croats and Muslims against each other, but the longest and bitterest conflict was between Serbs and Muslims.

Approximately 200,000 people, mostly civilians, were killed in Europe’s bloodiest conflict since the Second World War, and more than 20,000 people are still missing and presumed dead.

Acting on tribunal warrants, NATO peacekeepers in Bosnia have arrested dozens of war crimes suspects - most of them Bosnian Serbs - since the end of the war.