Del Ponte Says Milosevic Death Adds Urgency To Karadzic, Mladic Hunt
Carla Del Ponte, the UN's chief war crimes prosecutor (file photo) (AFP)
The UN is currently seeking the arrest and extradition of Radovan Karadzic, the wartime Bosnian Serb leader, and wartime army commander Ratko Mladic, for crimes committed during the Balkans wars in the 1990s.
She said that the passing of Milosevic, whose was found dead in his cell on March 11, had deprived victims of the wars of justice.
Del Ponte dismissed as "rumors" allegations that Milosevic had been poisoned while in UN custody.
She said, though, that she could not rule out that Milosevic might have committed suicide.
Dutch pathologists and Serbian experts despatched by the Serbian government are carrying out an autopsy to determine the cause of death. Del Ponte said she expects initial results of the autopsy later on March 12 or on March 13, but added that the results of toxicology tests might take longer.
(compiled from news agencies)