Western Powers Corner Karadzic Efforts To Squeeze Out War Criminal, Prop Up Peace Agreement Paying Off

Led by the United States, the United Nations and Western powers are kicking away the props holding up war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic.

Unlike many other policies the West has pursued in Bosnia, this one appears to be working.

It already has weakened the Bosnian Serb republic - giving peace a better chance - and eventually could lead to Karadzic’s isolation or capture.

A U.N war crimes tribunal has charged Karadzic twice with genocide. He was forced to step aside last year as Bosnian Serb president and was replaced by his deputy, Biljana Plavsic.

Karadzic still rules from behind the scenes, however, using a potent mix of money, guns and hatred of foreigners. Money bought the loyalty of the strongest police units; nationalist rhetoric strengthened many Serbs’ resolve not to live with Bosnia’s Muslims and Croats.

Now, Plavsic has turned against him, accusing Karadzic and Momcilo Krajisnik, the Serb member of Bosnia’s three-man presidency, of getting rich by smuggling at a time when average Serbs struggle to get by.

Serbs get almost no reconstruction aid because their officials will not obey the peace accord.

There is no indication Plavsic is working at the behest of Western powers, as Karadzic supporters claim. She argues that the only way to save the Serb republic is to clean it up. In contrast to her own wartime views, she says she wants to follow the Dayton peace agreement - including allowing Muslim refugees to return home if they obey Serb laws.

Plavsic’s campaign is weakening both the Serb republic and Karadzic, and it fits well with Western powers’ desire to sideline Karadzic. As long as he’s around, they believe, the Dayton accord is just paper.

Two forces established in the Dayton agreement - a strong NATO presence and a complex civilian structure - are stripping away Karadzic’s other props.

NATO has demanded the units of heavily armed special police that protect Karadzic be dissolved by the end of the month. The 3,000 officers also terrorize residents and prevent refugees from returning home.

NATO and unarmed U.N. police are making changes to regular Bosnian Serb police units, too. NATO soldiers may have foiled a coup against Plavsic by sealing off police stations Wednesday and seizing weapons from pro-Karadzic police.

Interior Minister Dragan Kijac, a Karadzic supporter, oversees the police. The United States, among others, is demanding he be fired. NATO and the U.N. police say they will restructure local police forces.

Events in the northeastern town of Banja Luka illustrate what restructuring means: Karadzic loyalists are out; Plavsic supporters are in.