U.N. prosecutor Del Ponte vows to follow up war crimes work

Carla Del Ponte of Switzerland, the United Nation’s new war crimes prosecutor, pledged on Thursday to carry on the work of her predecessor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

Carla Del Ponte of Switzerland, the United Nation’s new war crimes prosecutor, pledged on Thursday to carry on the work of her predecessor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

Swiss Federal Prosecutor Del Ponte took over from Louise Arbour of Canada on Wednesday.

Among her open cases are indictments against Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic over Kosovo and former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic for crimes in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

“I have a very good crew to go on with the work of Louise Arbour and I am confident,” Del Ponte, 52, told reporters.

She had spent her first two days in The Hague meeting colleagues and listening, she said, adding: “I am studying the new tasks and challenges.”

The head of Interpol, Raymond Kendall, praised Del Ponte’s crime-fighting efforts during a speech in Geneva on Thursday.

“We will also in future cooperate closely with Del Ponte,” Kendall said.

Interpol has so far issued 50 arrest warrants for suspected war criminals in the Balkans.

As public prosecutor in the southern Swiss town of Lugano and later as head of the Swiss judiciary, Del Ponte won a reputation for toughness and made many enemies. In 1989, she narrowly escaped an attempt on her life during a visit to Sicily.

She chased dirty money dealings by Italian mafia and pursued former Soviet bloc officials who may have been hiding illegal funds in Switzerland.

She was unpopular with some Swiss bankers because of her enthusiasm for seizing assets and at times challenging the country’s much-vaunted banking secrecy.


From staff and wire reports.