DEL PONTE OVERLY BULLISH ON SERBIA'S ICTY COOPERATION

C O N F I D E N T I A L BELGRADE 000814 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/SCE AND S/WCI E.O. 12958: DECL: CLOSURE OF ICTY TAGS: ICTY PGOV PREL SR SUBJECT: DEL PONTE OVERLY BULLISH ON SERBIA'S ICTY COOPERATION REF: BELGRADE 797 CLASSIFIED BY: Ambassador Michael Polt, reasons 1.4 (b,d) ¶1. (c) Carla del Ponte's decidedly upbeat briefing to Belgrade's diplomatic corps June 6 highlighted the recent arrest of Zdravko Tolimir as evidence that Serbia is cooperating with the ICTY. Del Ponte told the group her June 18 report to the Security Council would "most likely" be positive, and said she had asked Serbian President Tadic to make sure Rade Bulatovic stayed in his position as Serbia's intelligence chief until Mladic's capture was secured. She said Tolimir's arrest had signaled that the remaining fugitives are in Serbia, and said she now believed Belgrade had the political will and the capacity to bring them in. She confirmed that Tolimir was apprehended in Serbia, but that the arrest had not been formally processed until he crossed the border into Republika Srpska. ¶2. (c) More troublingly, del Ponte used the briefing to plead with the assembled Ambassadors not to make any decisions regarding Kosovo status until Mladic had been handed over- something she said she was confident could be done by September (coincidentally also when she plans to step down as ICTY chief prosecutor). When asked to clarify later in the briefing whether that request was from her or a re-transmittal of a request from the GoS, she conceded that both Tadic and Kostunica had asked her to make the case to stall the Kosovo status process until ICTY cooperation could be completed. ¶3. (c) Comment: It would be a serious mistake to use promised ICTY cooperation as the crutch on which to support a dragging out of the status process. This government has proven several times over the past three years, and most recently by rolling up Tolimir, that it has the influence and capacity needed to bring in even senior PIFWCs, and consistently does so when it is seen as being in the interests of Serbia or portions of its ruling elite. Invoking Kosovo is simply another attempt by the government to stall the status process - where there is a political will to find and hand over PIFWCs, there is a way. Any promise to put status on hold while ICTY cooperation is completed would have the opposite effect, giving the GoS an incentive to drag out the "search" for Mladic as long as possible. Simply put, we believe the government can deliver on the remaining PIFWCs. And if it can't, it will not be because Kosovo retards their capabilities. ¶4. (c) Visit addenda: Del Ponte also announced that during this visit, the GoS had handed over a copious volume of requested documents - so much so that ICTY had to secure a truck to transport them all to The Hague. She said a few key documents remained missing, notably Mladic's performance reviews for the period covering the Bosnia conflict. POLT