Karadzic protected by US until he broke 'deal': Belgrade report

[babsbunny]

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jCovFg-V0kb2R__18YiGMA6zyVvA

1 day ago

BELGRADE (AFP) — Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic was protected by the United States until a CIA phone bug caught him breaking the terms of his "deal", the Serb newspaper Blic reported Saturday, quoting a US intelligence source.

The newspaper claims Karadzic was secretly granted immunity in return for keeping a low profile.

"Karadzic, indicted for genocide and war crimes, was under US protection until 2000, when the CIA intercepted his telephone conversation that clearly proved he personally chaired a meeting of his old political party," the daily quoted a "well-informed US intelligence source" as saying.

That view partly echoed what Karadzic himself told the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in his opening written submission this week. He told The Hague-based court that US peace negotiator in Bosnia, Richard Holbrooke, had promised he would avoid trial if he withdrew from public life.