Karadzic: A master of lies

THE master of disguise is turning out to be a master of lies. War criminal and former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic while opening his defence at the United Nations tribunal in The Hague claimed that the Serbs were fighting a "just" and "holy" war and cannot be held accountable for the four-year siege of Sarajevo, where 12,000 died from shelling and sniper fire, because the atrocities were a "cunning strategy" by Bosnian Muslims "aimed at bringing in foreign troops and foreign intervention".

He further claimed "They (Bosnian Muslims) shelled their own people and killed their own people from snipers. Two infamous bombings of a Sarajevo market that killed dozens in 1994 and 1995 were faked, he said, in order to blame the attacks on Serbs.

Karadzic also claimed that the killing of more than 7,000 Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica in 1995, described by UN prosecutors as the worst atrocity in Europe since the Second World War, was also a fiction created by Muslims to cast more blame on Serbian forces.

Although Karadzic knows that he is defending the indefensible, the trial has highlighted his devilish mind which does not have an iota of remorse or regret for the massive bloodbath that took place in the heart of modern day Europe.

As expected, the Balkan war criminal is trying to use the trial as a platform for political protest and play to the Serb nationalists' sentiments, who consider him a hero.

During his first appearance at the UN Yugoslav war crimes tribunal, Karadzic claimed that he was a victim of a US-inspired media witchhunt and told the tribunal about a deal between him and the then chief US peace negotiator in Bosnia Richard Holbrooke under which he was assured that the US would ensure that he would not be tried before war crimes tribunal in exchange of him (Karadzic) quitting the post of president of Bosnian Serbs and withdrawing from public view. Karadzic also claimed the United States had reneged and was intent on silencing him.

But on Monday and Tuesday, Karadzic came out with more sinister argument, accusing Bosnian Muslims of starting the war, with American support, to create an Islamic state.

"They had an Islamist goal. They wanted 100 per cent power as it was in the days of the Ottoman Empire. There were fundamental goals changing the destiny of a whole region. Therefore, the succession of Bosnia and Herzegovina was the goal and only succession that could not be conducted in a legal," he said. "They want Islamic fundamentalism and they have been wanting it from 1991 to 1995."

Karadzic is trying to portray Bosnian Muslims as the aggressors and Serbs as the victims. But he should know that this is an old, tired and unsuccessful argument, which will not stand in the court. Same goes for his calling Srebrenica massacre and the 1994 shelling of the Markale market in Sarajevo as "myths".

The most appalling aspect of the entire combative defence by Karadzic is that not even for second a strain of remorse appeared on his face. He, after so many years, remains the same heartless man who has no respect for human life. Expressing outrage, one of the survivors of the massacre said: "He should be given the Nobel Prize for lying."

It would be great a travesty of justice if the person, who has got the sobriquet "The Butcher of Srebrenica", and whose crimes against humanity have seared the public consciousness, be allowed to manipulate the trial. Unlike Slobodan Milosevic, he should not be allowed to drag the trial and The Hague tribunal should wind up his trial in shortest possible time and award him exemplary punishment to finally close this most ugly chapter in modern times.