Israel Arrests Serb Accused of Killing Muslims in 1995 Srebrenica Massacre

JERUSALEM -- Israel today arrested a Bosnian Serb immigrant from the former Yugoslavia whom Bosnia wants to try for alleged involvement in the Srebrenica massacre 15 years ago.

The Justice Ministry of Serbia welcomed the Israeli move, although officials here say extradition could be a long process.

A spokesman for the Israeli Justice Ministry said Aleksandar Cvetkovic, 42, moved to Israel in 2006 and is married to a Jewish woman. He was able to obtain Israeli citizenship through his wife. Israel offers immediate citizenship to all Jews under the Law of Return.

"He is suspected of having personally taken part in the execution of more than 800 Bosniak [Bosnian Muslim] men and boys from the U.N. safe area," the Bosnian State Prosecutor's Office said in a statement. Srebrenica had been a U.N.-protected area until it was conquered by the Serbs.

The statement also charged that Cvetkovic had "initiated the use of an M-84 machine gun in order to speed up the killings." An estimated 8,000 Muslims were killed in the 1995 massacre in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica in what was considered the worst atrocity in Europe since World War II.

"When we were approached we operated without any hesitation," Yigal Palmor, the Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman, told AOL News. "The charges are extremely severe, and when we're dealing with genocide we will not just cooperate, we will expedite the cooperation."

Palmor said he was not familiar with all of the details, but added, "I wonder if he married a Jewish woman knowing he could come to Israel and escape."

Cvetkovic did not respond publicly to the accusations, and he is scheduled to be arraigned in a Jerusalem court Wednesday.

The U.N. war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in the Hague has sentenced 14 Bosnian Serbs in connection with the Srebrenica massacre. The massacre is part of the indictment against Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, whose trial is under way in the Hague. It is also mentioned in the indictment of army chief Ratko Mladic, who is believed to be hiding in Serbia.

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Israeli law allows Israeli citizens who are convicted of crimes abroad to serve their sentences in an Israeli jail. Suspected Israeli crime boss and drug trafficker Zeev Rosenstein was convicted of selling ecstasy in the U.S. and sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2004. He is serving his sentence in Israel.

But Israeli prosecutors said that in this case Cvetkovic would not be allowed to serve his sentence in Israel because the crimes were committed before he became an Israeli citizen.

Prosecutors in Bosnia say they are investigating several members of the former Serb army's 10th commando unit where Cvetkovic served.