Mladic's wife charged with possession of weapons

Belgrade: Serbian police briefly detained the wife of the country's most wanted war crimes suspect, Ratko Mladic, and charged her with illegal possession of weapons, a lawyer said yesterday.

Authorities are hoping that pressure on Mladic's family may help lead to his eventual arrest. Mladic was indicted 15 years ago for genocide in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of 8,000 Muslim men and the 43-month siege of Sarajevo.

Precondition

The arrest of Mladic, Bosnian Serb military commander during the 1992-95 Bosnian war, is a precondition for Serbia's progress towards European Union membership.