Bosnian Warlord Freed From Croatian Jail After Serving War-Crimes Sentence

Former Bosnian Muslim warlord Fikret Abdic and his wife get into a car in front of the prison in Pula, where several thousand supporters greeted him after his release on March 9.

Former Bosnian politician and warlord Fikret Abdic has been released from prison after serving two-thirds of his sentence for war crimes against fellow Muslims during the 1992-95 war in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Some 3,000 supporters gathered in the Croatian coastal town of Pula to welcome Abdic, who is also known as Babo (Dad), as he emerged from a Pula prison facility on March 9.

Abdic, once one of the richest men in Bosnia and a popular politician, was convicted in 2003 of participating in the killing of Muslims during the conflict.

He had turned against the Muslim-led central government in Sarajevo during the war, creating an autonomous region in Bosnia's northwest.

He was tried in Croatia, where he fled after the war.

With AP reporting