Serbian police authorities have detained a man with the false identity of Milorad Komadic, who is said to be actually Ratko Mladic, a former Bosnian Serb general, accused of genocide.

Serbian President Boris Tadic confirmed the arrest of the former Bosnian Serb army chief at a news conference. Mladic is currently in custody.

"The arrest of Ratko Mladic will help to close a dark chapter in the history of the Balkans. It will open the way for reconciliation in the region, and help all countries to focus on their European future. Therefore this is also good news for the people of Serbia," Thorbjorn Jagland, SSecretary General of the council of Europe, said in a media statement after the arrest.

Ratko Mladic is the former Chief of Staff of the Army of the Republika Srpska (the Bosnian Serb Army) during the Bosnian War 1992–1995 and is now considered a fugitive from the ICTY who has been accused by the prosecutor of the ICTY of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.

Serbia's failure to capture Mladic has been one of the main obstacles the country has faced trying to establish closer ties with EU. Last Thursday, EC President Jose Manuel Barroso stressed explicitly that Serbia needs to cooperate with the Hague Tribunal for the arrest and handing over of Gen. Ratko Mladic and former Croatian Serb leader Goran Hadzic to the war crimes tribunal in order to be recognized as an EU candidate country.

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