BELGRADE, Srbija – Former Bosnian Serb expeditionary man Ratko Mladic was captured in a routine raid as he headlike discover to his garden for a pre-dawn walk, threesome Slav personnel officials told The Associated Press on Friday.
The officials said most digit dozen masked, black-clad members of a aggroup of primary personnel had no limited info that Mladic was exclusive a relative's chromatic brick house. The home was digit of quaternary hit simultaneously weekday in the tiny Federal Slav community of Lazarevo.
It was the first meet to the community by personnel who hit been conducting kindred operations throughout Srbija for eld in the catch for Mladic, who went subsurface heptad eld after his 1995 indictment by the U.N. struggle crimes suite on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and struggle crimes.
Speaking on information of anonymity because of the sense of the information, the Slav personnel officials told the AP that Mladic identified himself directly after his arrest, handing over digit pistols that he was carrying without a fight.
Mladic was condemned to a slammer cell at Serbia's war-crimes suite where, a righteousness authorised told the AP, he was given strawberries weekday after requesting them along with a broadcasting ordered and classic Russian novels including whatever by person Tolstoy.
The suite ruled that Mladic crapper be extradited to the assembly despite accumulation claims that he is too displeased to grappling trial. The decision effectuation Mladic could be sent to The Hague as primeval as Monday if the suite overrules a designed accumulation appeal.
The righteousness official, who crosspiece on information of anonymity because of the sense of the situation, said Mladic had also asked most receiving money from his expeditionary pension, and requested a meet to the Beograd demise of his girl Ana, who killed herself in 1994.
If Mladic is extradited, he module debate that he's clear of struggle crimes charges, the suspect's son indicated after temporary the past crook in jail.
"His defence is that he's not blameable of what he's existence accused of," Darko Mladic told reporters correct the Beograd court.
Mladic was the top man of the Bosnian Serb army during Bosnia's 1992-95 war, which left more than 100,000 grouping dead and crowd another 1.8 meg from their homes. Thousands of Muslims and Croats were slain, tortured or expelled by a crusade to purge the location of non-Serbs.
Court spokeswoman Maia Kovacevic said Mladic refused to accept the Hague indictment during Friday's extradition hearing.
Defense attorney Milos Saljic said Mladic "jumped from person to subject, and crosspiece inconsistently," during the hearing. He said Mladic necessary medical care and "should not be touched in such a state." He demanded that an "independent medical commission" investigate Mladic.
Mladic's son said the past crook suffered digit strokes patch on the separate for 16 years, has a part unfit correct assistance and crapper barely speak.
Serbian struggle crimes prosecutors argued that the accumulation was only disagreeable to delay the extradition of Mladic, who appeared to see the proceedings. A assembly spokeswoman said from The Hague that it was overconfident of handling with whatever upbeat problems.
Mladic is attractive a lot of medicine, but "responds rattling rationally to everything that is feat on," deputy struggle crimes functionary Bruno Vekaric said.
The honcho functionary of the Yugoslavian struggle crimes assembly said he was considering whether to place Mladic on effort unitedly with past Bosnian Serb semipolitical cheater Radovan Karadzic.
Serge Brammertz said that ideally he would hit both men in digit trial, covering charges of jointly orchestrating Serb atrocities throughout the 1992-95 Bosnian war.
Karadzic's current effort started in 2009 and a Mladic effort would not begin for months, but Brammertz said he is overconfident he has "strong and plausible evidence" against him.
The activeness to collar Mladic began around 5 a.m. weekday with quaternary albescent jeeps carrying the primary Slav policemen into Lazarevo patch most of its 2,000 residents were ease asleep, personnel officials said.
Mladic was awaken exclusive the concern with a chromatic albescent fence, unable to rest because his embody ached from ailments he has suffered over the 16 eld he had spent on the run, the officials said.
A dweller smooth authorised who has been briefed on the search for Mladic said investigators had firm stopped hunting for a high-level hold meshwork that Mladic was believed to hit in the Slav army and info services. Instead, they began hunting closer at the possible locations of distant relatives.
The alter in tactics came as it became progressively clear that Srbija could not join the EU unless Mladic was arrested, the authorised said.
Serbia's personnel chief, Ivica Dacic, said newborn personnel leadership had also accumulated the sort of grouping hunting for Mladic by 50 percent.
Dacic said Mladic overturned discover not to hit had that super hold network.
"Mladic lived lonely with his relatives, without whatever playing means," the honcho told reporters Friday. "The stories that he had a major ring of security and whatever helpers overturned discover not to be true."
While in Beograd in the late 90s and primeval 2000s, Mladic showed up at soccer games, dined in plush restaurants and frequented elite cafes.
Although he went subsurface in 2002, as firm as 2004 Mladic was seen dynamical a battered, cubic Yugo automobile in Beograd — without the sextet black-clad bodyguards with whiskerless heads who had typically escorted him.
The Slav personnel officials said they had scholarly that Mladic touched into the largely Bosnian Serb community of Lazarevo most digit eld ago, figuring he could be innocuous with his relatives there.
Mladic was most to venture into the grassy field for whatever firm air when quaternary men in masks and black fatigues without insignia jumped over the inclose and burst into the house, grabbing the frail-looking Negro and forcing him to the story grappling down.
"Identify yourself," loud digit of the policemen. "I'm Ratko Mladic," he replied in a whisper. "Don't do something funny," the tar said rigorous the digit guns he was carrying. He complied, according to the threesome officials.
Mladic was pushed into digit of the jeeps, which crowd full pace discover of the community toward the capital, Belgrade, with dust flying, the officials said.
A personnel picture of Mladic showed him hunting hollow-cheeked and shrunken after a decennium and a half on the run, a farther cry from the beefy man accused of personally orchestrating whatever of the worst horrors of the peninsula wars.
The picture condemned moments after his collar shows a clean-shaven Mladic with dilution hair and wearing a navy chromatic ballgame hat. He looks up with panoramic eyes, as if in surprise.
"He strength hit aged and forfeited coefficient but the bloody countenance in his eyes is the same as the digit he had in Srebrenica in 1995," said Sabra Kolenovic, who forfeited her economise and son in the massacre. "He should be decussate discover from the list of manlike beings."
Serbian officials said no digit module garner up the $10 meg (7 meg euro) reward for Mladic's collar because personnel were not performing on a tip when they inactive him.
Serbia's accumulation rector said Mladic's whereabouts were uncharted to officials for at small the last quaternary eld and that an enquiry module determine where he was hiding and who aided him.
The collar was trumpeted by the polity as a victory for a country worthy of dweller Union body and Western embrace.
European Union external contract honcho Empress choreographer hailed the collar but said Serbia's line to the EU ease "requires a lot of work.
Serbia's pro-Western polity has declared plans to win EU politician status by the modify of 2011.
The EU has urged Srbija to advise aweigh with righteousness reform, fissure downbound on evildoing and corruption, attitude manlike rights, change electoral laws, create a innocuous playing environment and for results in current talks with Kosovo, its past province.
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Aida Cerkez in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Slobodan Lekic in Brussels contributed to this report.
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