THE HAGUE (AFP) - Chief UN war crimes prosecutor Carla Del Ponte yesterday accused the NATO-led peacekeeping force in Bosnia (SFOR) of not making a “real effort” to arrest former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic. “SFOR has to stop doing public relations operations. I am really angry. SFOR needs to make a real effort. I am sure that they can arrest him,” Del Ponte told AFP here. This year there have been two failed attempts to catch the former Bosnian-Serb leader in the Serb-run half of Bosnia. “They should stop reporting about their efforts and report only his arrest on the day he is captured,” Del Ponte said.

ANKARA (AFP) - Iraq and NATO member Turkey, a key Muslim ally of the United States, have agreed to work to seal a long-term cooperation pact similar to a deal discussed between Baghdad and Moscow, visiting Iraqi Trade Minister Mohammed Mehdi Saleh said yesterday. Speaking after a meeting with PM Bulent Ecevit, Saleh told reporters that Baghdad had proposed to Ankara an accord involving comprehensive joint investment projects. “This proposal was accepted in principle. The two sides will begin work over the details later,” Saleh said.

Countries refusing to accept a deal that would exempt US citizens from prosecution in the new international court need not worry that the United States might stall their accession to NATO, a US senator said yesterday. “We do not, in any way, base our support for any country’s entry into NATO on the issue of the court,” said John McCain, a Republican from Arizona. (AP)