Genocide suspect's homes raided

European Union peacekeepers have raided the homes of relatives of Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic.

The genocide suspect is on the run from the United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague.

Some 20 vehicles of the EUFOR peacekeeping force surrounded the house where Karadzic's wife Ljiljana Zelen-Karadzic lives in Pale, his stronghold in the 1992-95 Bosnia war near the capital Sarajevo.

The homes of Karadzic's daughter Sonja and suspected Karadzic supporter Smiljka Popov were also searched in the centre of the mountain town.

EUFOR spokesman Philip Treloar said: "The aim of the operation is to find material and information that could assist the ICTY (International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia) in the search for persons indicted for war crimes.

"It is believed that these people are associated with Radovan Karadzic's support network. There are items of interest that have been taken and they will be examined."

The UN war crimes tribunal has indicted Karadzic and his military leader Ratko Mladic for genocide over the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of 8,000 Muslims and the 43-month siege of Sarajevo that claimed some 11,000 lives.

The court says Mladic is hiding in Serbia. Karadzic is believed to be moving between eastern Bosnia, Serbia and Montenegro.

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