War criminal Ratko Mladic has been caught today in Serbia local state news agency b52 confirmed.
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DISCLAIMER: music and video belong to their respective owners and is not owned by me
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One of the world's most wanted war crimes suspects, Ratko Mladic, was apprehended early Thursday in Serbia after 16 years on the run..
The brutal former Bosnian Serb general suspected of leading the slaughter of some 8,000 Muslim men and boys had been in hiding since he was indicted by the U.N. war crimes tribunal for genocide and other crimes committed by his troops during Bosnia's civil war in the 1990s.
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Mladic appeared Thursday evening at a closed session in a Belgrade court, looking frail and walking very slowly as he was escorted by four guards. His lawyer, Milos Saljic, said the judge cut short questioning Mladic because of his "poor physical state."
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The Serbian Security Intelligence Agency arrested Mladic, who was reportedly living under someone else's identity, early Thursday in a northern province.
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"We ended a difficult period of our history and removed the stain from the face of the members of our nation wherever they live," Serbian President Boris Tadic told reporters as he announced the arrest.
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Tadic said DNA testing confirmed Mladic's identity and that the former fugitive would be extradited for trial before the U.N. tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands. He did not specify when, but said "an extradition process is under way."
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President Obama welcomed the news of Mladic's capture.
"Today is an important day for the families of Mladic's many victims, for Serbia, for Bosnia, for the United States, and for international justice," Obama said in a statement. "While we will never be able to bring back those who were murdered, Mladic will now have to answer to his victims, and the world, in a court of law."
