Troops search house in hunt for Karadzic

Nato led troops today searched a house used during during the Bosnian war by the most wanted war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic in the eastern town of Pale, retrieving documents that may provide clues to his whereabouts, officials said.

The operation came just a day after troops concluded an intense but abortive three-day search for the suspect in the Bosnian Serb town of Pale, a one-time stronghold of the fugitive about ten miles east of Sarajevo.

“As a result of information obtained over the weekend, it was determined that a detailed search of this property was necessary,” said Captain David Sullivan, a Nato spokesman in Bosnia.

Sullivan said troops had found many documents and items that may have “potential intelligence value” at the Karadzic family house in the Pale suburb of Krivace.

He said a worker at the premises had been questioned but not detained, and the house was not occupied.

Troops already seized documents earlier during the search from another house in Pale where Karadzic’s wife currently lives.

About 30 troops in eight vehicles were seen today at the house surrounded by a six ft high security wall.

According to Bosnian Serb police spokesman Miroslav, Karadzic lived in the house during the country’s 1992-95 war, but no one has lived at the property for years and only a caretaker checks it periodically.

Caretaker Jovica Vukadin said troops arrived during the middle of the night, took his mobile phone, questioned him and began searching the house.

Meanwhile, in the town of Bijeljina, 160 miles north of Pale, posters appeared overnight with Karadzic’s picture and the words: Is defending your own people a war crime?

The posters were yet another indication that support for Karadzic among people is still strong – a main hindrance for peacekeepers’ efforts to track him down.

The massive weekend search came from a tip that Karadzic might be in the area and in need of medical care.

Karadzic and General Ratko Mladic, his military commander, have been indicted for genocide and war crimes, including the 1995 slaughter of up to 8,000 Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica.