NATO raids homes of Karadzic's son and daughter

PALE, Bosnia, Feb 20 (Reuters) NATO raided the homes of the son and daughter of fugitive Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic early today, looking for information on their father's whereabouts, its spokesman said.

Alliance forces stationed in Bosnia had intelligence that Sonja and Sasa Karadzic were involved in their father's support network, said NATO headquarters spokesman Derek Chappell.

''They are being interviewed now,'' Chappell said, adding they had not been detained. Their homes were being searched and the operation should be concluded by today morning, he said.

He said troops had to force their way into Sonja's home because no one answered the door, but there was no resistance afterwards and no one was injured.

The overnight swoop on Pale, a small town some 15 km east of Sarajevo, was ''not an arrest operation'', he said. Dozens of Italian Carabinieri paramilitary troops stood guard on a chilly night around the two apartment blocks.

The homes of the two have been raided in the past and Sasa has been detained for questioning.

Karadzic was indicted for genocide in 1995 by the UN war crimes court for responsibility for the siege of Sarajevo and the massacre of 8,000 Muslims in the enclave of Srebrenica in the 1992-95 Bosnian war.

Some reports say he has been hiding in Bosnia, Serbia and Montenegro since. NATO has raided the homes of his family and alleged supporters and launched raids in several failed attempts to seize him.

Chappell said the raid was carried out with the support of the Hague-based UN court, which is set to close down in 2010.

Chief UN prosecutor Carla del Ponte has often criticised NATO and EU troops for not doing enough to arrest Karadzic.

The Bosnian Serb wartime leader Karadzic, and his wartime military chief Ratko Mladic, who del Ponte says is in Serbia, are the most senior of six remaining Serb war crimes suspects still at large.

Reuters SY DS1055