The wartime commander of the Bosnian Muslim army, General Sefer Halilovic, will turn himself in to the UN tribunal in The Hague to face charges in connection with the 1993 murder of Croat civilians, his lawyer said Monday.
Halilovic, who commanded the Bosnian army between May 1992 and November 1993, is the highest ranking Bosnian Muslim officer to be indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
"Halilovic has been indicted for his apparent failure to prosecute those responsible for the Grabovica massacre and he will hand himself over to The Hague on Tuesday," said lawyer Faruk Balijagic.
In September 1993, the government army killed 32 Croat civilians in the southern village of Grabovica during an offensive called "Neretva 93" led by a seven-men coordinating body under Halilovic's command.
Halilovic is currently minister of social affairs, displaced persons and refugees in the moderate government of the Muslim-Croat federation, which came to power following elections in Nveomber.
The government of the Muslim-Croat federation, which along with the Bosnian Serb republic makes up post-war Bosnia-Hercegovina, said in a statement released after a meeting here Monday that it supports the ICTY.
Halilovic's decision to go to The Hague voluntarily is "a sign of his trust and respect" for the ICTY, the statement said.
The government appointed Halilovic's deputy Mijat Tuka as acting minister for social affairs, displaced persons and refugees.
Halilovic has not been asked to resign but his portfolio has been temporarily suspended, Halilovic's spokeswoman Nedina Delalic told AFP.
In its statement, the Muslim-Croat government renewed its call for Bosnian Serb authorities and the international community to arrest the two most wanted war crimes suspects - Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic and his army commander Ratko Mladic -- believed to be in hiding in the Bosnian Serb republic.
Three high-ranking Bosnian Muslim officers indicted by the ICTY voluntarily surrendered to The Hague last August -- SARAJEVO (AFP)
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