Special Police Forces Banned In Bosnia

Special police forces in Bosnia will be banned except for protecting senior elected officials or dignitaries, a spokesman for the NATO-led peace force said Monday.

Any police personnel not certified by the U.N. police by Aug. 31 will be judged illegal, said the spokesman, Maj. John Blakeley. Since special police forces in the Serb-controlled half of Bosnia have so far protected indicted war crimes suspects such as Radovan Karadzic, the new policy could further isolate the wartime Serb leader.

Until now, the special - or paramilitary - police have been monitored by the unarmed U.N. police. Now they would be defined as illegal military forces - and be subject to inspections by the heavily armed peace force.