"Zivanovic and Deronjic are charged with organizing and carrying out the mass murder of Srebrenica Bosniaks after the fall of that town to the Serb forces in 1995," emphasizes our interlocutor.
He emphasizes that Zivanovic was at the time the commander of the Drina Corps of VRS and that, according to the indictment, is one of the individuals most responsible for the massacre of several thousands of Bosniaks.
Reporter's source claims that Zivanovic and Deronjic were supposed to be arrested in the next fifteen to twenty days.
"It is irrelevant whether they are currently in the Republic of Srpska or FR Yugoslavia. The two of them will be arrested and taken to the Hague," he says. He specifies that the indictment against Zivanovic and Deronjic was issued late last month.
"Unlike Zivanovic and Deronjic, Velibor Ostojic is charged with inspiring and organizing murders, rapes and expulsion of non-Serb population from Foca in 1992," claims this diplomat.
He adds that Ostojic is also supposed to be arrested soon.
To the question when the Hague Tribunal will issue indictments against Bosniaks who were during the war in senior political and military posts and are responsible for war crimes against Serbs, our interlocutor responded that the Tribunal has indicted 35 Bosniaks so far.
"However, their arrests will have to wait for a while. The reason is the clash between the international community and the HDZ. The assessment is that at this moment the international community must not open another 'front' in Bosnia-Hercegovina, as it is clear that Bosniaks will not easily accept transfer of their leaders to the Hague. As soon as the situation with Croats is under control, it will be time to arrest Bosniaks wartime leaders," this diplomat emphasized.
According to him, the indictments were issued, among other, against Naser Oric, the wartime commander of Srebrenica, and against Kemal Ademovic, a former head of the AID.
"The list of indicted individuals includes two senior officers of the Army of Bosnia-Hercegovina and two ministers from the government of Edhem Bicakcic," states our source, refusing to reveal their names.
by I.T.R.
The warrant in English gives the basic data - age between 30 and 35 (Naser Oric was born in 1967); height 5 feet and 11 inches; built strong; hair long and dark, wavy; wears a beard; position - former commander of the 28th division of the Army of Bosnia-Hercegovina (enclave Srebrenica).
According to the relevant documentation based on the statements of Serb and Bosniak witnesses, the units under command of Naser Oric in the period between May 1992 and April 1993, when Srebrenica was declared a UN "safe zone", and later in the actions launched from the "safe zone", killed more than 1,000 Serb civilians and soldiers in about 100 villages and hamlets in the municipalities Srebrenica, Bratunac, Skelani and Milici. At least 87 persons were massacred in the most brutal manner, while between 2,800 and 3,200 individuals were hurt or wounded. The attacked villages were looted and in most cases burnt.
About 5,400 Serb households lost their property in that region.
The authorities of the Republic of Srpska handed the complete evidence, which includes at least criminal indictments issued by the Srpska Police against Oric and his soldiers, to the Hague Tribunal in late July 1996. This was done personally by the former Justice Minister Marko Arsovic and the then government officer for communication with the Tribunal, Goran Neskovic.
Therefore, how can it be that Oric for full six years has been living near Tuzla (he owns a big restaurant on the lake Modrac), and that it hasn't occurred to the American troops from the Tuzla base to act on the international arrest warrant? How can an international arrest warrant be issued if there is no international indictment of Naser Oric?
Should answers to these questions be sought in murky political games that plague the work of the Hague War Crimes Tribunal?