Serbia requests extradition of Bosnian leader

˝The request, accompanied with detailed legal documentation, was sent to Great Britain in order to extradite Ganic,˝ the ministry said.

BELGRADE, March 10, 2010 (AFP) - Serbia on Wednesday officially requested the extradition of former Bosnian leader Ejup Ganic, arrested in Britain over alleged war crimes committed nearly two decades ago, the justice ministry said.

"The request, accompanied with detailed legal documentation, was sent to Great Britain in order to extradite Ganic," the ministry said in a statement.

Belgrade launched a probe into Ganic in December 2008, accusing him of involvement in the killing of 18 soldiers in an attack on a retreating Yugoslav army convoy in May 1992 at the start of the bloody war in Bosnia.

Ganic was a member of the Bosnian presidency at the time.

Last week Bosnia made a rival extradition demand, arguing it had opened an investigation into Ganic in 2006 and should have priority in handling the case as Ganic is Bosnian.

Ganic, 64, was arrested on Monday last week at London Heathrow airport on a warrant issued by Serbia. He has been held without bail since his arrest and is due to appear in court again Thursday for a bail hearing.

Bosnia's 1992-1995 war between its Croats, Muslims and Serbs claimed some 100,000 lives. During the war Belgrade politically and militarily backed ethnic Serbs.