A British court on Thursday gave bail to former Bosnian leader Ejup Ganic who is wanted for alleged war crimes, but imposed "stringent" conditions to ensure he does not flee.

Ganic, arrested at London's Heathrow airport last week, must keep to a night-time curfew, remain at an undisclosed London address and report regularly to a police station, the High Court in London ruled.

A security payment of 300,000 pounds (450,000 dollars, 330,000 euros) had been provided for Ganic by "an anonymous lady of substantial means," the judge said.

Ganic, a long-standing friend of former British premier Margaret Thatcher, was not present at the bail ruling, which comes as British courts consider an extradition request from Serbia over the alleged 1992 killing of 18 soldiers.

His son Emir and daughter Emina embraced in court as the judge granted bail.

"We are very happy with the outcome, it has been very emotional. This is just the first step. My father is an academic who has never spent a day in prison before," Emir Ganic said.

"It is becoming more and more obvious every day that this case is politically motivated."

The ex-Bosnian leader, 64, has been held in Wandsworth prison in London since he was arrested as he was preparing to leave Britain on March 1.

He was detained on a provisional arrest warrant so Serbian authorities can seek his extradition to stand trial there.

Belgrade believes he is implicated in the killing of 18 soldiers and officers in an attack on a Yugoslav army convoy in May 1992. Ganic was a member of the Bosnian presidency at the time.

Britain's Foreign Secretary David Miliband met Haris Silajdzic, the Muslim member of Bosnia's three-way joint presidency, for talks in London.

He told Silajdzic that Ganic's arrest was a "judicial matter", a Foreign Office spokesman said.
Miliband said the arrest "in no way amounts to a diplomatic or political statement by the British government or any UK point of view on past events in the western Balkans," said the spokesman.

"The foreign secretary confirmed that the UK takes its obligations towards foreign nationals in detention very seriously, and that officials will continue to look into any concerns raised by the Bosnian authorities in this regard."

The High Court ordered Ganic to appear in a London magistrates' court on April 13, but he may have to appear before that.

As well as the 300,000-pound security from an anonymous donor, the judge also required a surety of 25,000 pounds which was provided by the vice-chancellor of the University of Buckingham, a colleague of Ganic.

Outside court, a small group of mostly elderly anti-Ganic protesters held placards reading "British justice, don't wobble", "Ganic: blood on his hands", and "Gotcha Ganic".

Luba Novak, an elderly Serb woman living in London, claimed: "There is no doubt that Ganic gave the order to attack the wounded soldiers.

"If he is not extradited it is just more proof that Bosnians are treated differently to Serbs.

"Ganic is worse than (Radovan) Karadzic. Karadzic didn't order the murder of anyone," she said, referring to the former Bosnian Serb leader, who is on trial before a UN war crimes court in The Hague.

(Source: AFP)