Karadzic defiant over U.N. court

Forensic experts work to identify the remains of bodies found in a mass grave in Bosnia

PALE, Bosnia -- The wife of Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic says he will not surrender to the U.N.

Karadzic, believed to be hiding in Serb-held eastern Bosnia, has been indicted twice by the U.N. war crimes tribunal for crimes committed during the 1992-95 siege of Sarajevo.

His wife Ljiljana Zelen-Karadzic said he would not surrender, nor would he testify against former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic who appeared before the court this week charged with crimes against humanity.

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"We are again forced to deny misinformation that Radovan Karadzic would surrender to the tribunal in The Hague and that he will, 'in exchange for a lighter sentence, testify against Slobodan Milosevic'," Zelen-Karadzic told Reuters.

She was responding to a Western news agency report about Karadzic's plans.

"The attitude of Radovan Karadzic towards that tribunal has not changed nor will it change under any conditions," Zelen-Karadzic said in a statement.

Karadzic and his indicted wartime military chief Ratko Mladic are the top suspects at large after Milosevic's handover.

The tribunal's chief prosecutor Carla Del Ponte is to meet Bosnian Serb Prime Minister Mladen Ivanic on Thursday to urge him to hand over Karadzic and Mladic.

"Republika Srpska became the last safe haven for war crimes. We have more than 20 fugitives living there," said Del Ponte's spokeswoman Florence Hartmann.

"The authorities in Banja Luka know where some of them are. They are in contact with Karadzic and Mladic," Hartmann said.

So far, the republic has made no arrests, but Ivanic says his government has co-operated with the tribunal by making witnesses and documents available.

Karadzic is accused of genocide against Bosnian Muslims in Srebenica

Ivanic denied he knew where the two men were or that he had any contact with them.

But Hartmann said Mladic was known to have travelled through the republic with an army escort, Reuters reported.

"It is very important for the stability in the region that they are handed over to The Hague," she said.

Ivanic's government has drawn up a draft law on co-operation with the tribunal, which he said he expected to be approved by parliament within three weeks.

The bill is similar to the legislation that cleared the way for Milosevic's surrender.

Meanwhile, Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica has criticised Del Ponte and the tribunal, calling the process selective justice and the prosecutor biased.

"At The Hague there is very little that could characterise a tribunal," Kostunica said in an interview with Italy's Corriere della Sera and Serbian weekly Vreme, published on Thursday.

"There is no impartiality; it embodies only selective justice. This court is not applying any equality to other identical or similar cases.

"Even its international character is questionable. In practice, it represents specific interests and forces. It is more American than reflecting a plurality of countries."