THE HAGUE: Former Serb leader Biljana Plavsic made history yesterday by admitting responsibility for war crimes at the international court in The Hague.
Ms Plavsic, former Bosnian Serb president, entered a guilty plea on a charge of crimes against humanity for her part in the ethnic cleansing of Bosnia 10 years ago.
It is a welcome break for the court, which until now has laboured against Serbs who insist the court is the tool of the West.
Ms Plavsic (72), once dubbed the "Iron Lady" by the Serbs, admitted responsibility for a campaign that saw Serb forces murder, torture and rape tens of thousands of Croats and Muslims, lay siege to Sarajevo and force more than one million people from their homes in 1992. She could face life imprisonment.
In a statement issued after her brief court appearance by video link from the Balkans, she expressed "remorse" for the suffering caused to more than a million victims.
In contrast to the violence of those times, her appearance before British Judge Richard May was calm. So quiet, in fact, that she had to be asked twice to utter her historic plea.
The first time Mr May asked if she wanted to change her plea, which was originally not guilty, her lips moved but the sound coming out was too faint even for The Hague's state-of-the-art microphones to hear.
"Could you please repeat it, the interpreters have problems hearing it," said Judge May.
After a pause, Ms Plavsic, stone faced and wearing a plain dress the same colour as her bushy grey hair, said: "I plead guilty."
A deal done with prosecutors has seen a more serious charge, of genocide, dropped, along with a third charge of violations of the laws and customs of war.
And there is speculation that Ms Plavsic will now spill the beans on other Serb leaders - possibly on Mr Slobodan Milosevic, the former Serbian president and the only former president ever tried for war crimes.
Mr Milosevic, who yesterday cross-examined Croatia's president, Mr Stipe Mesic, in another courtroom in The Hague, has befuddled prosecutors by refusing to recognise the war crimes court as legitimate.
Ms Plavsic would certainly be in a position to give hard evidence on Mr Milosevic's part in Bosnian war crimes. She took a leading part in the opening act of the Bosnian war in April 1992.
She became one of the four-member group which ruled Bosnian Serb territory and was led by former Bosnian Serb president, Dr Radovan Karadzic. He has also been indicted for war crimes and Ms Plavsic may be able to give evidence against him, as well as his military commander at the time, Gen Radko Mladic, who is likewise indicted. Both remain remain in hiding in south-east Bosnia.
Ms Plavsic's war-like rhetoric saw her once tell Serbs that Muslims could be freely exterminated because they were a lower form of life. After the war, however, she did a U-turn and, in exchange for Western support and money, she broke with other members of the oligarchy, setting up a more conciliatory regime in the main Bosnian Serb town of Banja Luka with NATO backing.
Ms Plavsic is charged jointly with another member of the four-strong group, Mr Momcilo Krajisnik, regarded as the "Kingmaker" for the Bosnian Serb leadership.
Mr Krajisnik, in jail in The Hague, has pleaded not guilty to all three charges. Prosecutors are clearly hoping that Ms Plavsic's admission of guilt will spur her to give evidence on Mr Krajisnik's part in the ethnic horrors.
Ms Plavsic expressed sorrow for the crimes she had committed. A statement by her lawyers said: "By accepting responsibility and expressing her remorse fully and unconditionally, Mrs Plavsic hopes to offer some consolation to the innocent victims - Muslim, Croat and Serb - of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina."
But her lawyer, Mr Eugene O'Sullivan, denied she had made a deal with prosecutors to give evidence on other Serbs. "There is no agreement, nor have there been any discussions, between Mrs Plavsic and the office of the prosecutor regarding sentencing. Mrs Plavsic has not agreed to testify in any case pending before this tribunal."
He refused to comment on reports that Ms Plavsic, was gravely ill and hoped to be given a short sentence when she appears at the court again on December 16th.
Croatia's stand-off with The Hague war crimes tribunal may slow down its integration into Europe, but may also nudge Zagreb into action on other key issues, a government minister said yesterday. Croatia, whose reformist government pledged to co-operate with the UN tribunal, has received an indictment against its ex-chief-of-staff, Gen Janko Bobetko (83), who is regarded as a war hero; handing him over would almost certainly damage the government, whose key goal is EU membership.