Looking for Karadzic

By Maggie O'Kane The Guardian's war correspondent

"Looking for Karadzic" the documentary made by Guardian Films for BBC Two's Correspondent programme uses a secret intelligence list supplied to the US by Bosnian intelligence to revisit the places where Karadzic has been hiding over the last two years.

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The 18 locations on the list includes six monasteries, a military barracks, two mountain lodges and 10 private houses - all in remote parts of Bosnia and Montenegro.

Support for Karadzic

By visiting some of the locations on the list we reveal the extent of support for Karadzic and also the necessity that he face the International Criminal Court for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague.

The trail led to Ostrog Monastry too

During our journey we encounter Serb politicians who insist that the killing of almost 8000 men and boys at Srebrenica was not a massacre but a legitimate act of war.

We also meet those who consider Radovan Karadzic to be a hero of the Serbian people.

US exit strategy

We ask the question. Why it took the tragic events of 11 September and the deaths in America to introduce some urgency into the hunt for justice for the people of Bosnia.

Radovan Karadzic has been on The Hague's wanted list for seven years. The Bosnian Serb leader accused of genocide in Bosnia has managed to stay in hiding in a country the size of Wales - with 18,000 Nato troops apparently committed to picking him up.

But our film reveals that until 11 September, and the tragedy of the attacks on the US, nobody was really looking for Karadzic. Lifting him was seen as too risky for Nato troops.

Karadzic, both reviled and revered

As a result of 11 September and partly because of the election of President Bush the US have a new strategy for Bosnia. Getting out.

There are other wars to fight and they plan to reduce the US presence in the Balkans by the end of the year.

Radovan Karadzic is part of that exit strategy according to Colin Powell, the US secretary of state. He has said openly that lifting the remaining war criminals is part of the US plan for Bosnia.

Action at last

On 28 February, US special forces landed four helicopters in the mountain village of Celebici in Eastern Bosnia without bothering to inform Nato Headquarters in Brussels of the operation.

The US commander General Sylvester using information supplied by Bosnian intelligence authorised the biggest operation ever to lift Karadzic. They missed him.

Looking for Karadzic: A Maggie O'Kane Investigation, Sunday 19 May 2002 on BBC Two at 19.15 BST

Reporter: Maggie O'Kane
Producer: Fiona Lloyd-Davies
Series Producer: Simon Finch
Editor: Fiona Murch

Interactive forum: Maggie O'Kane and Anthony Borden, Executive Director of the Institute of War & Peace Reporting, answered your questions in a live interactive forum following the programme.

56k Click here to watch the forum

Click here for full programme transcript

Click here for full Interactive Forum transcript

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