Ashdown clips Bosnian Serb wings

Ashdown clips Bosnian Serb wings

Ashdown: Serb Republic is an entity not a state

Bosnian High Representative Paddy Ashdown has clamped down on the Bosnian Serb Republic over an arms-to-Iraq scandal, hours after the Serb head of the country's three-member presidency quit over the same issue.

Chairman Mirko Sarovic resigned on Wednesday after reportedly being implicated in the sale of aircraft parts to Baghdad.

Mr Ashdown, who had been expected to remove Mr Sarovic if he had not resigned, announced that he was abolishing the Bosnian Serb defence council.

These activities could very easily have placed the stability of this country in jeopardy

Paddy Ashdown
Bosnian high representative

He said the defence council had failed to prevent the scandal.

"With war now under way in Iraq, it is impossible to overstate the seriousness of this affair," he said.

"These activities could very easily have placed the stability of this country in jeopardy," he added.

Mr Ashdown also ordered that the words "state", "independence" and "sovereignty" be erased from the Serb republic's constitution.

"Too many people in the Serb Republic believe that the Serb Republic is a state rather than an entity," he said, quoted by the Bosnian Serb news agency SRNA.

"Had the Serb Republic truly accepted its role as part of Bosnia-Hercegovina, none of this would have happened."

A report by Nato and Western intelligence services is believed to have implicated Mr Sarovic in both the arms-to-Iraq affair, and in spying on Nato-led peacekeepers.

Arms firm

The report is thought to accuse Mr Sarovic of knowing that arms were being secretly sold to Iraq in violation of a UN arms embargo.

Mr Sarovic has previously denied responsibility for the affair.

The report is believed to have held him politically responsible for the supply of arms by a Serb arms firm, Orao. The illegal trade was discovered by Nato last September.

Aircraft parts were supplied to Iraq

Orao was found to be refurbishing and supplying spare parts for Iraqi aircraft.

The report also said that Nato peacekeepers were being spied on by Bosnian Serb military intelligence, in defiance of the Dayton peace accords which ended the Bosnian war.

The report by international investigators was handed last week to Mr Ashdown.

Bosnian Serb prime minister Dragan Mikerevic said on Wednesday it was in the public interest for Mr Sarovic to resign because of the "violation of the UN Security Council resolution concerning Iraq."

"I regard his resignation as a personal and moral act with the aim to establish new standards of behaviour of those holding public positions," Mr Mikerevic said.