SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina: Bosnian police detained a former Bosnian army commander and 12 other people Friday on suspicion of war crimes against Serb and Bosnian civilians and prisoners during the country's deadly 1992-95 war.
Atif Dudakovic and other commanders and members of the wartime Bosnian Army's 5th Corps were detained in early morning raids in several towns, the Bosnian prosecutor's office said. They are suspected of atrocities against mainly hundreds of Serbs in northwestern Bosnia, the statement said.
It added the case against the group is based on hundreds of testimonies, video footage and other evidence.
Initially, prosecutors said Dudakovic and 11 others were detained, but police apprehended one more suspect later Friday.
Dudakovic's arrest is sensitive for Bosnia, because he was in charge of the northwestern Bihac area that was under Serb siege during most of the war that killed around 100,000 people and left millions homeless.
The 64-year-old former general became the Bosnian army commander after the war and remains highly respected and popular.
"We are shocked," said Dzevad Malkoc, the official who deals with war veterans in the Bihac area. "This is a blow to the state, to all patriots who defended this state."
Reactions to Dudakovic's arrest reflected Bosnia's persisting ethnic divisions, with Muslim citizens criticizing the move and Serbs saying it is welcome, although late.
The Muslim head of the country's three-member Bosnian Presidency, Bakir Izetbegovic, warned against attempts to create "a false ethnic balance" in prosecuting war crimes. He said the arrests Friday were an "unnecessary humiliation" because the suspects have been cooperating with the investigation.
Bosnian Serb President Milorad Dodik said the "relatives of the victims have been waiting for justice for 20 years."
The war started when Bosnia declared independence from Yugoslavia, triggering a rebellion by Bosnia's Serbs, who took control of more than half of the country seeking to merge with neighboring Serbia.
A peace agreement for Bosnia was signed in 1995, but tensions between the country's Muslims, Serbs and Croats still persist. Today's Bosnia is comprised of a Serb entity and a Muslim-Croat one.
In the Serb town of Banja Luka, Milorad Kojic, who heads a group investigating wartime crimes against Serbs, said they have submitted to the Bosnian prosecutors more than 8,000 pages of evidence against Dudakovic and others, including allegedly incriminating video footage.
The case involves 256 victims between the ages of nine and 99, Kojic said.
Bosnian ex-general, 12 others suspected of war crimes
Bosnian ex-general, 12 others suspected of war crimes
- Atif Dudakovic and other commanders and members of the wartime Bosnian Army's 5th Corps were detained in early morning raids in several towns
- Dudakovic became the Bosnian army commander after the war and remains highly respected and popular
India accelerates free trade agreements against backdrop of US tariffs
- India signed a CEPA with Oman on Thursday and a CETA with the UK in July
- Delhi is also in advanced talks for trade pacts with the EU, New Zealand, Chile
NEW DELHI: India has accelerated discussions to finalize free trade agreements with several nations, as New Delhi seeks to offset the impact of steep US import tariffs and widen export destinations amid uncertainties in global trade.
India signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with Oman on Thursday, which allows India to export most of its goods without paying tariffs, covering 98 percent of the total value of India’s exports to the Gulf nation.
The deal comes less than five months after a multibillion-dollar trade agreement with the UK, which cut tariffs on goods from cars to alcohol, and as Indian trade negotiators are in advanced talks with New Zealand, the EU and Chile for similar partnerships.
They are part of India’s “ongoing efforts to expand its trade network and liberalize its trade,” said Anupam Manur, professor of economics at the Takshashila Institution.
“The renewed efforts to sign bilateral FTAs are partly an after-effect of New Delhi realizing the importance of diversifying trade partners, especially after India’s biggest export market, the US, levied tariff rates of up to 50 percent on India.”
Indian exporters have been hit hard by the hefty tariffs that went into effect in August.
Months of negotiations with Washington have not clarified when a trade deal to bring down the tariffs would be signed, while the levies have weighed on sectors such as textiles, auto components, metals and labor-intensive manufacturing.
The FTAs with other nations will “help partially in mitigating the effects of US tariffs,” Manur said.
In particular, Oman can “act as a gateway to other Gulf countries and even parts of Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and Africa,” and the free trade deal will most likely benefit “labor-intensive sectors in India,” he added.
The chances of concluding a deal with Washington “will prove to be difficult,” said Arun Kumar, a retired economics professor at the Jawaharlal Nehru University.
“With the US, the chances of coming to (an agreement) are a bit difficult, because they want to get our agriculture market open, which we cannot do. They want us to reduce trade with Russia. That’s also difficult for India to do,” he told Arab News.
US President Donald Trump has threatened sanctions over India’s historic ties with Moscow and its imports of Russian oil, which Washington says help fund Moscow’s ongoing war with Ukraine.
“President Trump is constantly creating new problems, like with H-1B visa and so on now. So some difficulty or the other is expected. That’s why India is trying to build relationships with other nations,” Kumar said, referring to increased vetting and delays under the Trump administration for foreign workers, who include a large number of Indian nationals.
“Substituting for the US market is going to be tough. So certainly, I think India should do what it can do in terms of promoting trade with other countries.”
India has free trade agreements with more than 10 countries, including comprehensive economic partnership agreements with South Korea, Japan, and the UAE.
It is in talks with the EU to conclude an FTA, amid new negotiations launched this year for trade agreements, including with New Zealand and Chile.
India’s approach to trade partnerships has been “totally transformed,” Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said in a press briefing following the signing of the CEPA with Oman, which Indian officials aim to enter into force in three months.
“Now we don’t do FTAs with other developing nations; our focus is on the developed world, with whom we don’t compete,” he said. “We complement and therefore open up huge opportunities for our industry, for our manufactured goods, for our services.”
