A majority of Serbs are against the arrest of Europe's most wanted war-crimes fugitive, Ratko Mladic, and the public support for his delivery to a U.N. tribunal is rapidly declining, a government official said Tuesday.Citing a government survey, Rasim Ljajic said about 51 percent are against the capture and extradition of the wartime Bosnian Serb army commander to the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands.
Ljajic, who is in charge of the hunt for the fugitive, also said about 26 percent of those surveyed support Mladic's capture, compared to 50 percent a year ago.
"We have never had so few of those who say they support Mladic's extradition," Ljajic said.
Ljajic cited continued international "pressure" on Serbia _ even after last year's arrest of another top fugitive, former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic _ as the reason for the drop in the public support for Mladic's capture.
"We have suffered immense damage for not having arrested this man," Ljajic said.
The Netherlands has blocked an aid and trade deal between Serbia and the European Union until Mladic is arrested. Serbian officials insist they cannot locate the fugitive general who has been on the run since 1995.
Chief U.N. war crimes prosecutor for former Yugoslavia Serge Brammertz is scheduled to arrive in Belgrade on Wednesday to review government efforts to capture the fugitive general.
Mladic is wanted by the tribunal for orchestrating the massacre of 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica and other atrocities of Bosnia's 1992-95 war.
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