Croat Suspect To Face War Crimes Tribunal

The Croatian government, bowing Monday to heavy pressure from Washington, extradited the first Croat wanted by the international War Crimes Tribunal to The Hague, Netherlands, aboard a U.S. military plane, Western diplomats said.

The former Croat paramilitary commander, Zlatko Aleksovski, 36, is accused of mistreating Muslim prisoners while commander of a notorious detention camp at Kaonik.

He is to appear today before a panel of three tribunal judges in The Hague to enter his plea.

Aleksovski was arrested in Croatia almost a year ago, but authorities refused to send him to The Hague, saying he was ill. A doctor from The Hague finally was allowed to visit Aleksovski in the coastal city of Split, where he was living under house arrest, and determined that Aleksovski is fit to stand trial.