HEAD: Lawyer: Former Bosnian Serb Army Chief Mladic Well After Surgery

DATE: 08/18/11

NUMBER: 1271215

TYPE: CN ))

The lawyer for former Bosnian Serb military chief Ratko Mladic says his client is “well” after undergoing surgery in the Netherlands, where he is awaiting trial on war crimes charges.

There are conflicting reports about the nature of the operation. Reuters news agency says Mladic had surgery for a hernia, while the French news agency, AFP, reports it was a slipped disc.

A spokeswoman for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia said Mladic has not left the prison complex where he is being held. But she refused to confirm if he had been operated on at the Scheveningen prison complex.

The spokeswoman said tribunal rules did not allow her to share details on the health of detainees.

Mladic was arrested in May and transferred to the Hague on charges of genocide and war crimes for the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia-Herzegovina. He is due to appear in court again on August 25 for regular, pre-trial proceedings.