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