THE Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect, Dr Radovan Karadzic, resigned yesterday as president of the Republika Srpska and leader of the ruling Bosnian Serb party, clearing the way for Bosnian elections due in September.
Dr Karadzic (52), wrote himself out of public and political life in the Serb entity in Bosnia Herzegovina in a statement signed overnight with senior Bosnian Serb leaders and witnessed by President Slobodan Milosevic of Serbia, the US envoy, Mr Richard Holbrooke, said.
The tough US negotiator, who brokered the Dayton peace agreement last year before returning to private life, was back in the Balkans this week and threatened Mr Milosevic and his Bosnian Serb allies with the reimposition of crippling economic sanctions unless Dr Karadzic resigned.
The move, which clears the way for the elections in Bosnia Herzegovina on September 14th, comes after international concern that Dr Karadzic's continued presence was blocking the peace process in the former Yugoslav republic.
Months of pressure from the civilian High Representative, Mr Carl Bildt, had failed to shift Dr Karadzic from power.
Mr Holbrooke said Dr Karadzic had been replaced as president by a hardline deputy, the Bosnian Serb "Iron Lady," Dr Biljana Plavsic (66), until elections on September 14th.
"As of today, Dr Karadzic has relinquished the office of president," Mr Holbrooke said.
As well as giving up his post as president of the Serb part of Bosnia Herzegovina, Dr Karadzic stepped down as leader of the ruling Serb Democratic Party (SDS) and was replaced by another one of his inner circle, the hardline Bosnian Serb Foreign Minister, Mr Aleksa Buha.
In Washington, the US State Department spokesman, Mr Nicholas Burns, said it was "a significant step in the right direction".
"We intimidated Karadzic and his supporters" into the resignation by a threat to bar the SDS from upcoming elections and to reimpose economic sanctions on the Serbs and on Serbia if he did not resign. "We're turning up the heat on the Bosnian Serbs," he said.
Dr Karadzic's resignation kicked off the official campaign for Bosnia's first post war election.
"The campaign is underway as of today," the spokeswoman for the Organisation for Security and Co operation in Europe (OSCE), Ms Joanna van Vliet, said.
"We said the campaign had been delayed until [Friday] the 19th. We have [Karadzic's] signature, so the campaign is now underway," the spokeswoman said.
Mr Holbrooke said that a decision by OSCE mission chief, Mr Robert Frowick, to bar the SDS from the elections unless Dr Karadzic was replaced had been "very important" in securing the resignation.
"Nato's support for our readiness to reimpose sanctions on Serbia and [the Bosnian Serb entity Republika] Srpska was very important," he added.
"It's the end of Karadzic's political career," Mr Holbrooke said.
In Sarajevo, Mr Ejup Ganic, the vice president of the Bosnian Muslim Croat Federation, welcomed the announcement but cautioned that Dr Karadzic would still wield power behind the scenes.
Mr Holbrooke agreed: "This statement falls short of our goal which is that Karadzic and [the Bosnian Serb army chief] Gen [Ratko] Mladic be in The Hague to stand trial before the international war crimes tribunal."
Both the main Bosnian Serb leaders have been charged with genocide and war crimes by the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague.
In Pale, the Bosnian Serb capital, Serbs reacted with anger and bewilderment to the news of the resignation.
"What the international community is doing is dishonest and impudent. It's for the people to decide the fate of their leader," said Mr Savo Zivkovic, head of the local branch of Dr Karadzic's party.
Asked what guarantees he had that Dr Karadzic would respect his undertakings, Mr Holbrooke said he had a signed statement.
"If it is not implemented, all the pressure and sanctions and so on that have been discussed might still be reimposed," he added.