Serbia's hunt for Mladic broadens

Ratko Mladic has been on the run for 13 years

Serbian police have raided five locations in Belgrade in an intensified hunt for the fugitive former chief of the Bosnian Serb army, Ratko Mladic.

The home of General Mladic's son, Darko, was among the premises searched. There were no reports of any arrests.

Gen Mladic has been charged by the UN war crimes tribunal with genocide and crimes against humanity in connection with the Bosnian war in the 1990s.

He is the most senior war crimes suspect who is still at large.

His boss, the former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, is already facing trial at The Hague tribunal.

'Putting pressure'

Dozens of policemen in masks and bullet-proof vests and carrying machine guns carried out the raids on Thursday morning.

CHARGES AGAINST MLADIC Genocide Crimes against humanity Violations of laws of war Profile: Ratko Mladic

Rasim Ljajic, the Serbian minister in charge of Belgrade's co-operation with The Hague tribunal, said the police were looking for "traces, proof, documents and any kind of evidence that could lead to Ratko Mladic".

Serbian war crimes prosecutors - who had ordered the raids - said they were designed to put pressure on the network of supporters of Gen Mladic.

The Serbian government has vowed to carry out more raids across the country over the next few days.

The operation comes a week before the chief Hague tribunal prosecutor, Serge Brammertz, is due to report to the UN on Serbia's level of co-operation.

Last week, Serbian police hunting Gen Mladic raided a factory in the west of the country, but no-one was arrested.

The handover of Gen Mladic is a key requirement of the European Union for closer ties with Serbia.

Massacre 'mastermind'

The Bosnian Serb general was indicted in 1995 on counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and violation of the laws of war in Bosnia-Hercegovina between April 1992 and July 1995.

Speculation that he would soon be arrested has been mounting since the arrest of Radovan Karadzic in July this year.

Thursday's raids came a day after Mr Karadzic's house was searched by Nato soldiers.

Mr Karadzic was found to have spent years living in Belgrade, in disguise and using a new name, practising alternative medicine.

Correspondents say the capture of Gen Mladic would be a significant success for The Hague tribunal, which has vowed to stay in operation for as long as it takes to bring him to trial.

Prosecutors at The Hague believe he directed some of the main atrocities of the Bosnian war, including the siege of Sarajevo, and the massacre at Srebrenica, in which at least 7,500 unarmed Bosnian Muslim (Bosniak) men and boys were killed.

Apart from Gen Mladic, only one other man remains on The Hague tribunal's wanted list - the Croatian Serb Goran Hadzic.