Jovanka Karadzic, an 83-year-old widow, was laid to rest in this Montenegrin town this weekend with honors befitting a national heroine.
Her great achievement, most said, was her son, Radovan, a psychiatrist and poet, but better known to the outside world as the leader of the Bosnian Serbs during Bosnia's civil war, from 1992 to 1995. He is one of the most wanted war crimes suspects sought by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, in The Hague.
Almost 10 years have passed since the tribunal indicted him as the main advocate of killing or forcing out Bosnia's Muslims and Croats during the war, in which an estimated 150,000 people were killed. But in spite of repeated efforts to seize him, mainly by NATO-led troops in Bosnia, he has avoided capture.
Officials at the war crimes tribunal say a well-financed support network that includes police officers and members of the intelligence services in Bosnia, Serbia and Montenegro, as well as members of the Serbian Orthodox Church, has enabled Karadzic to remain on the run.
The funeral of Karadzic's mother provided admirers -- for whom Karadzic still holds near mythical status -- an opportunity to show their support for him. It was also a reminder of his elusiveness.
Former soldiers, a few wearing T-shirts bearing Karadzic's picture and the slogan "Serbian Hero," attended a packed service at the main public cemetery here. The two most senior members of Montenegro's Serbian Orthodox Church led the funeral, which was attended by people who had traveled from Bosnia and Serbia for the occasion.
Amfilohije Radovic, the Metropolitan of Montenegro, described Mrs. Karadzic as "the mother of an immortal." He described a conversation he said he once had with her: "She once said: `I would be a happy mother if they brought my son's dead body for me to kiss if I know he had died devoted to truth and his people. I would be an unhappy mother if they brought him to me alive and he had betrayed his people and his fate.'"
For Serbian nationalists, who make up the largest bloc of voters in both Serbia and Bosnia's Serbian republic, Karadzic remains a symbol of defiance against the rest of the world, all the more important perhaps since their governments have begun to cooperate with the tribunal.
Substantial evidence of Karadzic's whereabouts has been scarce. The tribunal's chief prosecutor said at one stage Karadzic had been given refuge at a Serbian Orthodox Monastery near Niksic, a claim the church denied. A Bosnian newspaper also published claims that he had cut off his thick gray locks, and adopted a monk's habit.
Although Serbian and Bosnian Serb authorities long stonewalled on arresting suspects because of popular opposition to handing them over, international pressure has borne fruit, diplomats in the region contend, with the transfer of 12 Serbian war crimes suspects this year.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
IN PURSUIT: Israel’s defense minister said the revenge attacks by Israeli settlers would make it difficult for security forces to find those responsible for the 14-year-old’s death Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday condemned the “heinous murder” of an Israeli teenager in the occupied West Bank as attacks on Palestinian villages intensified following news of his death. After Benjamin Achimeir, 14, was reported missing near Ramallah on Friday, hundreds of Jewish settlers backed by Israeli forces raided nearby Palestinian villages, torching vehicles and homes, leaving at least one villager dead and dozens wounded. The attacks escalated in several villages on Saturday after Achimeir’s body was found near the Malachi Hashalom outpost. Agence France-Presse correspondents saw smoke rising from burned houses and fields. Mayor Amin Abu Alyah, of the