Press wary over Karadzic plea

Radovan Karadzic: Indicted for war crimes

Papers in the former Yugoslavia have reacted cautiously to the plea by the wife of fugitive Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic for him to surrender.

They speculate on the circumstances of the appeal and avoid predicting the outcome.

"Ljiljana Zelen-Karadzic, the wife of the most wanted Hague indictee and former leader of the Bosnian Serbs, visibly shaken and tearful, publicly called on Radovan Karadzic to surrender," says Belgrade-based daily Glas javnosti.

Its headline reads: "Surrender, Radovan" - but this is a summary of the appeal rather than the paper's own advice.

Mrs Karadzic, the paper adds, was seen on TV "having difficulty speaking her words and frequently lowering her head to one side".

The same daily quotes Radovan Karadzic's brother Luka as saying he has spoken to his sister-in-law since her appeal.

"She is in despair. She is crying," he says. "She just keeps repeating that she had to do this, as people have been exerting exceptional pressure."

He adds that since the international community failed to extract information from Radovan Karadzic's son, they "resorted to even more brutal torture" by forcing the mother to go public.

He says he does not support the surrender appeal and calls on "all people of good will" to protest and protect the Karadzic family from such pressure.

Doubts

The Sarajevo-based Dnevni avaz, which is close to the Bosnian Muslim Party of Democratic Action, shares the view that the call followed pressure exerted by international officials after they questioned Mr Karadzic's son "a few days ago".

"Ljiljana Zelen's appeal came about after everything had been agreed for the surrender of the most wanted war criminal Radovan Karadzic," it says.

"However," it adds, "public opinion in Bosnia-Hercegovina is not inclined to be convinced by the tears of Ljiljana Karadzic."

The paper quotes a Bosnian Serb official as saying that many Bosnian Serbs interpret the message as "a desperate attempt... to finally stop the foreigners who are not allowing the family to eat or sleep".

Another Sarajevo-based paper, Oslobodjenje, notes that Mrs Karadzic's statement is in stark contrast to her previous stand.

"The wife of the most wanted Hague fugitive Radovan Karadzic , Ljiljana Zelen-Karadzic, called on her husband to surrender," it says, adding that this is the same person who "in the past ten years has supported her husband in hiding".

In Montenegro, three dailies have front-page reports, largely factual.

"Radovan, surrender", is the headline in Vijesti, while Pobjeda says simply: "Ljiljana Karadzic urges Radovan to surrender".

The headline in Dan offers in turn a more personal touch.

"Radovan, surrender because of the children," it says.

It quotes Luka Karadzic, Radovan Karadzic's brother, as saying he doubts the appeal will achieve its goal.

"I guarantee that this appeal by my sister-in-law will not reach Radovan in anything less than three months. I vouch for this with my life."

BBC Monitoring selects and translates news from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages. It is based in Caversham, UK, and has several bureaus abroad.