S-For arrests Serbian 'rape camp' suspect

French and German troops swooped on another Balkan war crimes suspect yesterday as Nato stepped up its efforts to round up those wanted by the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague.

Radovan Stankovic, 32, was arrested near the eastern Bosnian town of Foca, close to the scene of the so-called rape camps which he is accused of helping to run when Bosnian Serb forces overran the area in 1992 and 1993.

Mr Stankovic, who has been indicted since 1996 for atrocities, including crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war, is due to be transferred to The Hague. He is wanted for detention, torture and sexual assault, including rape, of Bosnian Muslim women and girls as young as 12 after Serb forces moved into Foca in 1992.

Yesterday the French government described the arrest as the result of "close co-operation between French and German soldiers serving under S-For", the Nato stabilisation force in Bosnia.

The arrest comes amid continuing efforts by Nato forces to apprehend the former Bosnian Serb leader, Radovan Karadzic, who is thought to be in hiding near Foca.

Nato troops staged raids in the area in February and March but failed to capture Mr Karadzic, the former Bosnian Serb President, or his former military commander Ratko Mladic.

Mr Stankovic and seven other Bosnian Serbs are accused of organising the systematic rape of Muslim women. Several of the others accused have already been convicted by the tribunal in The Hague and are serving long jail sentences for the assaults.

The UN tribunal has classified these instances of rape in the Foca region as crimes against humanity.