Mladic 'terminally ill'

A popular Belgrade newspaper yesterday quoted an unnamed source as saying top war crimes fugitive General Ratko Mladic had suffered "his third stroke" and was in grave condition, near death.

"Ratko Mladic is in a critical state and there is little chance of him surviving," the tabloid daily Kurir quoted a "well-informed source" as saying.

The story, which could not be verified independently, said loyalists protecting the 64-year-old former Bosnian Serb Army commander were already discussing where to bury him. A government spokesman declined to comment. A government source said: "This is just more sensationalist nonsense."

Gen. Mladic is wanted on charges of genocide in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of 8,000 Muslims and the 1992-95 siege of Sarajevo, which killed 10,000 civilians. His handover to the UN war crimes tribunal is a key condition for Serbia's eventual European Union and Nato membership. Gen. Mladic's death, were it to occur, would resolve a major dilemma for the government of Serbia, where many people regard him as a war hero rather than a war criminal and would regard his arrest and extradition as an act of treason.

The EU suspended talks with Serbia and the US blocked aid last month when another deadline for his capture passed. Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica denied ever having promised to deliver Gen. Mladic by the end of April.

Yesterday's report interrupted a lull in the recurrent Serbian media speculation about Gen. Mladic, on the run since 2001.

A government report in May said his ring of loyalists had been totally exposed and he was now alone and in full flight. Kurir's story said he had 800 supporters helping to hide him.