Hague Tribunal for Bosnia may remain open past 2010

President says closing down tribunal altogether in 2010 could give impression that impunity is tolerated.

The president of the Hague tribunal Fausto Pocar says the court could continue to operate on a much smaller scale after its official closure in 2010 to try outstanding war crimes fugitives.

"It's important that we don't leave the impression that some crimes have gone unpunished, and that those individuals who are evading justice don't think that they just have to hide until the tribunal stops working to avoid trial,” Pocar told Russian agency RIA Novosti this week.

According to a completion strategy imposed by the UN Security Council, the Hague tribunal has to wrap up all first instance trials by the end of this year, and all appeals by the end of 2010.

However, four war crimes fugitive are still on the run - Goran Hadzic, Stojan Zupljanin, as well as Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic and his army chief Ratko Mladic.

Many believe that the tribunal's mandate will not be successfully completed if all remaining fugitives, especially Karadzic and Mladic, are not tried by the court.

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