Posts
NYTIMES / ANALYSIS : S. ERLANGER
NYT: "The arrest on Thursday of the wanted war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic after 15 years of quiet protection and hiding is also regarded as a mixed blessing. It is a major victory for Serbia’s democratic president, Boris Tadic, (right) and his supporters, who see it as vindication of moral values and the closing of another chapter of a bloody past.
Mr. Mladic’s inevitable extradition to face charges of genocide is bound to jump-start Serbia’s request to join the European Union. That could pay off politically for Mr. Tadic, who reorganized intelligence gathering and deployed the police on a nationwide manhunt for Mr. Mladic, in an attempt to remove that barrier to membership.
But for many Serbs, who are struggling with a very weak economy and high joblessness rates of some 20 percent, the arrest of Mr. Mladic is an ambivalent, even irrelevant moment for their near future.
European Union membership would be years away in any case, and Serbs have been watching the financial crises that have rocked the union."
AND: LONG READ: Some speculate that Ratko's arrest at a cousin's house in a small village (above)...was an entirely staged event...the result of a year's negotiations...because Europe’s most wanted war criminal...with a $10mn usd reward on his head...responded to his arrest...not with gunfire or grenades...but polite compliments.
“Good work,” he reportedly said while handing over 2 pistols. “You found the one you were looking for.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/serbia/8544051/Ratko-Mladic-capture-Was-it-all-an-elaborate-set-up.html 