Bosnia Raids Snare Two War Crimes Suspects

NATO special forces snatched two Bosnian Croat war crimes suspects Thursday, wounding one of them in a shootout, in operations meant to strengthen Bosnia’s peace by sidelining those accused of past atrocities.

The pre-dawn raids in central Bosnia also served as a warning to other war crimes suspects still at large - including No. 1 suspect Radovan Karadzic, the wartime Bosnian Serb leader.

One suspect, Vlatko Kupreskic, was shot three times when he fired on Dutch soldiers flown in to lead the raids 30 miles northwest of Sarajevo, Dutch Defense Minister Joris Voorhoeve said in a statement. American and British troops provided backup.

Kupreskic’s wife accused the NATO soldiers of beating her husband and said they fired tear gas, handcuffed her and shot the family dog during the gunfight in the central hamlet of Ahmici.

Calling the soldiers “beasts,” Ljubica Kupreskic said they searched the house and seized documents.

Voorhoeve said Dutch soldiers shot Kupreskic in the chest, arm and leg after he opened fire on the troops.

No NATO forces were injured in the shootout.

Kupreskic and the other suspect, Anto Furundzija, were both taken to the international tribunal’s prison in The Hague, Netherlands, said NATO spokesman Maj. Glenn O’Brian.

The arrests came just before President Clinton announced a new extension of U.S. military involvement in Bosnia.

The two suspects were relatively small fish compared to the major war crimes suspects still on the loose - Karadzic and Gen. Ratko Mladic.