Wartime Bosnian Muslim commander arrested on warcrimes charges

SARAJEVO: Police arrested Bosnian Muslim wartime commander Atif Dudakovic and 11 senior members of his Corps on Friday on suspicion of committing crimes against humanity during Bosnia´s 1992-95 war.

The arrests were ordered as part of a long running major investigation into wartime abuses, the state prosecutor´s office said in a statement.

Those detained are suspected of killing several hundred Bosnian Serb civilians and prisoners of war in 1995, it said.

The Dudakovic investigation includes interviews with more than 100 witnesses, video footage, wartime documentation and evidence from exhumations, it added.

Dudakovic has previously dismissed the accusations as politically motivated and said the video footage was fabricated.

The charges also include offences allegedly committed in 1994 against Muslims led by renegade leader Fikret Abdic.

He set up a breakaway province around the western town of Velika Kladusa when he broke ranks with the Sarajevo government which turned into Muslim-versus-Muslim fighting.