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OMRI: PURSUING BALKAN PEACE, V1,#10, Mar. 12, 1996
CONTENTS
[01] ILIDZA CHANGES HANDS.
[02] "ILIDZA IS BURNING."
[03] IZETBEGOVIC REAPPEARS.
[04] REFUGEES FROM ILIDZA ARRIVE IN TREBINJE.
[05] INTERNATIONAL POLICE TO BE BEEFED UP.
[06] SERB SOLDIERS CONFIRM MASSACRE, THEN DISAPPEAR.
[07] U.S. WANTS SERBIA TO TURN WAR CRIMES SUSPECTS OVER TO THE HAGUE.
[08] WARRANT ISSUED FOR KRAJINA SERB LEADER.
[09] BRITISH DAILY IDENTIFIES MAN BEHIND VISEGRAD KILLINGS.
[10] PEACEKEEPERS TO PROTECT SITES OF WAR CRIMES IF ASKED.
[11] BILDT CONCERNED ABOUT KARADZIC.
[12] KARADZIC, MLADIC GIVE INTERVIEW TO GREEK TV STATION.
[13] SERBS HOLD MUSLIM JOURNALIST IN WINDOWLESS CONTAINER.
[14] IFOR CHIEF WARNS ABOUT CROAT-MUSLIM FEDERATION.
[15] MOSTAR UPDATE.
[16] WHAT IS THE U.S. DOING FOR BOSNIA?
[17] UNHCR DEVELOPS GENERAL REFUGEE REPATRIATION PLAN.
[18] KRAJINA SERBS CALL FOR ORGANIZED, COLLECTIVE RETURN.
[19] CROATIA GOVERNMENT SAYS BELGRADE HOLDING BACK DATA ON 1,700 KILLED.
[20] RUMP YUGOSLAV BUSINESS LEADERS PROMISE TO HELP REBUILD REPUBLIKA SRPSKA.
[21] REFUGEES IN MONTENEGRO.
[22] SERBIAN POLITICIANS ON KOSOVO.
[23] BOSNIAN-IRANIAN IMBROGLIO CONTINUES.
[24] BOSNIANS REPORTED AS SENDING TROOPS TO IRAN FOR TRAINING...
[25] ...WHILE U.S. MAKES DELIVERY OF ARMS TO BOSNIA CONDITIONAL ON THE DEPARTURE OF IRANIANS.
[26] BOSNIAN SERBS CLAIM NATO USED NUCLEAR WEAPONS.
OMRI SPECIAL REPORT: PURSUING BALKAN PEACE
Vol. 1, No. 10, 12 March 1996
[01] ILIDZA CHANGES HANDS.
A Bosnian government multi-ethnic police force
entered Ilidza on the morning of 12 March, making it the fourth of five
suburbs to be transferred from Pale's control. CNN said that gangs of
arsonists and thieves submitted the few remaining mainly elderly
residents to a final night of terror. One Serbian woman said that she
was glad the federal police would arrive because IFOR refused to protect
her building. The police station, hospital, and a major factory went up
in flames despite last-minute attempts by IFOR and the Sarajevo fire
department to end the blazes. Not a single arsonist was arrested.
Departing Serbian police fired pistols and grenades as IFOR troops
scattered for cover. It was difficult to escape the impression that
"once again thugs had made fools out of what is supposed to be the most
professional army in the world," the BBC's reporter said on 11 March.
The UN's Kris Janowski stated that a prominent local Serb, Danilo Staka,
disappeared with his daughter after urging other Serbs to stay, Onasa
reported. -- Patrick Moore
[02] "ILIDZA IS BURNING."
This is how a BBC reporter on 11 March describedthe situation there that day. The Serbs had instituted a "scorched earth
policy" after cutting off essential services, including fire-fighting.
Intimidation to force people to leave was rampant, although some mainly
elderly people barricaded themselves in their flats in hopes of staying.
The mysterious arsonists torched not only schools, factories, and public
buildings, but also apartment blocks, including those with people still
in them. IFOR on the weekend finally stepped up patrols and rescued some
people trapped in burning flats, but the peacekeepers said it is not
their job to fight fires and stood back while buildings burned, the
broadcast noted. The international police force said it has no power to
arrest the arsonists, and the Serbian police said they were "too scared"
to go out onto the streets amid scenes of violence and chaos. "Local
sources" told the UN that there were plans to torch at least 200
buildings. -- Patrick Moore
[03] IZETBEGOVIC REAPPEARS.
Still in Sarajevo, AFP reported on 10 March that
Bosnian TV has shown the first footage in weeks of President Alija
Izetbegovic, who is in the hospital with heart problems. He wrote to the
international community's High Representative Carl Bildt and IFOR
commander Admiral Leighton Smith to protest attempts at settling
Sarajevo Serbs in the strategic Brcko area, the fate of which will be
determined later by international arbitration, Nasa Borba noted. Onasa
reported on 6 March that Radovan Karadzic's party, the Serbian
Democratic Party (SDS) called on Serbs from Sarajevo to be settled in
Brcko to strengthen the Serbian case there. In any event, the Bosnian
Serb leader appealed to Serbian President Milosevic to provide help for
the Sarajevo Serb refugees, Reuters noted on 3 March. -- Patrick Moore
[04] REFUGEES FROM ILIDZA ARRIVE IN TREBINJE.
Some of the Serbs have headed
for Trebinje, a traditional stronghold of Serbian nationalists in
eastern Herzegovina. The spokesman for the Red Cross in Trebinje said
that within recent days some 4,500 Serbian refugees have arrived there.
Another 20,000 are still expected, but there is only space for about
2,000 more homeless people, Beta reported on 10 March. A key problem in
accommodating the newcomers seems to be the many possessions they took
with them, for which storage space is at a premium. The mayor of
Trebinje said that the town is short of medicine and food, while the
UNHCR estimates that the supply may last for only another 20 days. The
International Red Cross in Geneva had earlier announced a large aid
program, including bedding and food, for the Serbs who fled Sarajevo,
Beta reported on 6 March. -- Fabian Schmidt
[05] INTERNATIONAL POLICE TO BE BEEFED UP.
A UN spokesperson in Belgrade
announced the decision to increase the size of the International Police
Task Force (IPTF), whose duty is to accompany federal police into Serb-
held Sarajevo suburbs when they are transferred to government rule, Nasa
Borba reported on 8 March. The decision was made to prevent possible
incidents, like the one in Hadzici where Croat police arrived without
permission. She expressed a special concern for Ilidza, where mines have
been detected in addition to the "chaotic situation, increased crime
rate, and the houses that have been burned out." Some 145 IPTF members
were slated to enter Ilidza, and another 85 will be in charge of the
Grbavica and Novo Sarajevo transfers on 19 March. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[06] SERB SOLDIERS CONFIRM MASSACRE, THEN DISAPPEAR.
New revelations about
war crimes have been in the news as well. An ethnic Croat serving with
Bosnian Serb forces in Srebrenica last summer has stated that he
witnessed the murder of at least 1,200 Muslim prisoners after the town
fell. Le Figaro on 8 March quoted Drazen Erdemovic as saying that he
himself took part in the killings, as did a friend of his who also
confirmed that the massacres had taken place. Both men were then
arrested by the Serbian police in Vojvodina on 3 March and nothing has
been heard from them since, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported
on 9 March. -- Patrick Moore
[07] U.S. WANTS SERBIA TO TURN WAR CRIMES SUSPECTS OVER TO THE HAGUE.
This
case has nonetheless been closely watched in Washington. International
news agencies reported on 7 March that on that same day State Department
spokesman Nicholas Burns asked Belgrade to turn Erdemovic and his
associate Radoslav Kremenovic over to the International Criminal
Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. "The United States urges [Serbian]
President Slobodan Milosevic to transfer the men as requested and to
cooperate fully with the tribunal," said Burns. Nasa Borba on 12 March
said that the tribunal's deputy prosecutor had arrived in Belgrade to
seek the two men's extradition. Meanwhile, Tanjug reported that the 25
year-old Erdemovic was indeed arrested on 2 March by Serbian police for
"taking part in mass killings" of civilians following the fall of
Srebrenica. The Serbian prosecutor's office said that Kremenovic is in
custody in rump Yugoslavia for sheltering Erdemovic. It is believed that
Erdemovic's testimony may be key in linking Bosnian Serb leaders
Karadzic and General Ratko Mladic to atrocities. -- Stan Markotich
[08] WARRANT ISSUED FOR KRAJINA SERB LEADER.
Nor are the two Bosnian Serb
leaders the only top-ranking Serbs to receive special attention for war
crimes in recent days. AFP reported on 8 March that on that same day the
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia issued an
arrest warrant for Milan Martic. He is the former leader of the Krajina
Serbs and is wanted for ordering a rocket attack on Zagreb in 1995.
Civilians were killed and wounded in a move described at the time as
pure terrorism, without any military value or purpose. He is now living
in Banja Luka on Bosnian Serb territory. -- Stan Markotich and Patrick
Moore
[09] BRITISH DAILY IDENTIFIES MAN BEHIND VISEGRAD KILLINGS.
And a Bosnian
Serb named Milan Lukic was responsible for the murders of hundreds of
Muslims from Visegrad after the historic town on the Drina fell to the
Serbs in 1992, The Guardian reported on 11 March. Victims were killed,
mutilated, and thrown off the Ottoman bridge that was the centerpiece
for Ivo Andric's Nobel Prize-winning novel Bridge on the Drina. Lukic is
not wanted by The Hague and is reportedly working in a cafe in
Obrenovac, Serbia. AFP said that the article also revealed that a
concentration camp existed at nearby Uzamnica and that torture was
frequent there. -- Patrick Moore
[10] PEACEKEEPERS TO PROTECT SITES OF WAR CRIMES IF ASKED.
A key problem in
investigating any war crimes is, of course, collecting physical
evidence, and some persons in post-Dayton Bosnia may be anxious to
destroy any such tangible proof of their crimes. News agencies reported
on 6 March that a NATO spokesman in Brussels said that the peacekeepers
will now consider on an individual basis requests to guard suspected
sites of war crimes to prevent tampering with evidence, especially if
the request comes from The Hague. The 60,000-strong force will still
give priority to its military duties as set down in the Dayton
agreement. NATO has drafted some new guidances for IFOR, but it is not
clear if they will enable the peacekeepers to become more active in
catching or detaining war criminals. Reuters noted that Washington has
agreed to the guidelines. A diplomat said the new measures are not a
case of mission creep but of mission evolution. -- Patrick Moore
[11] BILDT CONCERNED ABOUT KARADZIC.
One glaring example of how IFOR has been
reluctant to take an assertive role involves Pale's president and
indicted war criminal Radovan Karadzic. He has reportedly gone through
IFOR checkpoints or come close to IFOR troops on numerous occasions, but
no one seems to have been able to identify him or felt they were in a
position to arrest him. The international community's Bildt, said on 3
March that he is concerned about Karadzic's increased public profile,
but added that Karadzic may not be in charge in Pale. He did not
elaborate, Reuters reported. -- Patrick Moore
[12] KARADZIC, MLADIC GIVE INTERVIEW TO GREEK TV STATION.
The two Bosnian
Serb leaders, in an interview aired by the Greek private TV station Mega
on 10 March, denounced the Hague tribunal as a political rather than a
legal body and dismissed the charges against them. AFP cited Mladic as
calling the court "a saucepan in which they cook up the fate of
peoples." He went on to call it a "political tribunal [that] legalizes
terrorism." Karadzic claimed the tribunal was "set up to persecute the
Serbs." He said charges should be examined by courts of the three
Bosnian factions in the presence of international observers rather than
by The Hague. Mladic claimed that "not for a second have I waged war
against the civilian Muslim or Croatian population. I have fought
against armed, fanatical Muslim forces and fascist Croat forces," and
that "the [Bosnian Serb] army has never committed any crime. We have
fought in accordance with the conventions of international military
law." The only crime the Bosnian Serbs committed has been "to defend our
homeland, to live freely as in all other countries," but "they have
blamed us for all the ills since the beginning of humanity. They have
made us victims of all those who wash their bloody hands on our
sacrifice." According to Mega, the interview was recorded at the
beginning of last week "somewhere in the mountains near Pale." A Mega
journalist said that IFOR troops surrounded the building where the
interview took place, and that Mladic ordered one of his men "to fire a
bullet into the head of anyone who approached. The others will
understand." -- Stefan Krause
[13] SERBS HOLD MUSLIM JOURNALIST IN WINDOWLESS CONTAINER.
Still in the
Republika Srpska, Bosnian Serbs continue to hold the news photographer
Hidajet Delic under tough conditions for "war crimes" in an apparent
case of retribution for the arrest of two top Bosnian Serb officers and
their deportation to The Hague earlier this year. The Guardian on 5
March reported that Delic's colleagues called the charges "preposterous"
and that UN officials described the conditions under which he is being
held as "outrageous." Onasa noted that Reporters without Borders and
local journalists' organizations have rallied to Delic's defense and
demanded his freedom. They also recalled that government and Serbian
authorities on 25 January had endorsed media freedom and the right of
journalists to work undisturbed. -- Patrick Moore
[14] IFOR CHIEF WARNS ABOUT CROAT-MUSLIM FEDERATION.
Tensions between Croats
and Muslims have been in the news as well, with Mostar appearing to be
just the tip of the iceberg. Bosnian federal president and Bosnian Croat
leader Kresimir Zubak appeared on 6 March to distance himself from his
earlier harsh words on the future of the federation that Slobodna
Dalmacija had reported, Onasa stated. The NATO commander in Bosnia, U.S.
Admiral Leighton Smith, however, remains openly pessimistic about the
future of Croat-Muslim cooperation, the VOA said on 7 March. AFP quoted
the admiral as stating that Mostar is evidence of the deep-set problems
of the partnership, which has yet to take root at either the political,
military, or people-to-people levels. He predicted things will go from
bad to worse in the spring. Former Bosnian prime minister and now
opposition political figure Haris Silajdzic issued similar warnings,
saying that the politicians responsible for the Croat-Muslim war of 1993
must go if trust is to be rebuilt. Vecernje novine ran the report on 7
March. In another sign of problems within the federation, some 7,000
Muslim civilians have still not been allowed to return to their homes in
Croat-held Kulen Vakuf. AFP on 11 March quoted Bosnian radio as saying
that the deadline agreed to in Rome passed unmet the previous night. In
Sarajevo, the cantonal assembly held its opening session but without
deputies from the Croatian Democratic Community (HDZ), Oslobodjenje
reported on 12 March. The HDZ and its Muslim counterpart, the Party of
Democratic Action (SDA), have been conducting a running power struggle
within the federation while at the same time elbowing non-nationalist
parties aside. -- Patrick Moore
[15] MOSTAR UPDATE.
But it is Mostar that remains at the center of Croat-
Muslim tensions in public. European Union foreign ministers on 10 March
agreed in principle to extend the EU administration of the city until
the end of the year, Onasa and Oslobodjenje reported. German Foreign
Minister Klaus Kinkel said the six-month extension would be formally
approved at the next EU foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels on 25
March, when a successor to the current Mostar administrator Hans
Koschnick would be chosen. La Stampa suggested that a possible
replacement for Koschnick -- who is leaving his post at the end of April
-- is Giorgio Giacomelli, a UN official known for his diplomatic
experience and expertise in fighting organized crime, Vjesnik reported
on 12 March. Meanwhile, Koschnick announced that the EU will take over
the administration of the central Mostar district until the new city
authorities -- including one mayor for all Mostar -- are chosen,
Oslobodjenje stated on 11 March. The mayor of the Croat-held part of
Mostar, Mijo Brajkovic, said this decision was not agreed to by the
Croatian side, Nasa Borba and Vjesnik reported the next day. In another
development, at its two-day session in Mostar, the house of
representatives of the self-styled Croatian Community of Herceg-Bosna
announced it would begin at once to transfer its functions to the
Bosnian Federation, Nasa Borba reported. Herceg-Bosna functions as a de-
facto state and the Muslims regard it as secessionist. The house also
released from office former members of the Herceg-Bosna presidential
council Dario Kordic and General Tihomir Blaskic, who have been indicted
by The Hague. In their places it appointed Bozo Rajic president of the
HDZ and Lt. Gen. Zivko Budimir as chief-of-staff of the Bosnian Croat
army (HVO). Meanwhile, Beta and AFP on 7 March reported that the HVO
transferred some of its troops to the parts of southern Croatia
bordering on Bosnian Serb territory. The exact number of soldiers
involved is unknown, but some western military sources believe that
purpose is to avoid demobilization, which is scheduled by the Dayton
peace accord for 20 April for all Bosnian army formations. -- Daria Sito
Sucic
[16] WHAT IS THE U.S. DOING FOR BOSNIA?
Turning to Bosnia's internationalrelations, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) on 9
March made awards to 42 Bosnian experts who participated in a training
program in the U.S. last year. On 11 March, USAID said it will give 300
books and a computer to the Sarajevo Law Faculty. Bosnian media have
nonetheless criticized Washington for doing less than promised, Onasa
reported on 9 March. A commentary in Oslobodjenje started with an
alleged lack of American energetic support for the reunification of
Mostar as promised earlier, and continued with the Americans' serious
delay in providing much-publicized financial aid, including military
assistance. The editorial ended by noting mediator Robert Gallucci's
resignation and concluded that Washington is losing an important expert
on Bosnia whom it cannot replace overnight. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[17] UNHCR DEVELOPS GENERAL REFUGEE REPATRIATION PLAN.
Another issue to
remain in the news is that of refugees, one of the central questions
addressed by Dayton. The UNHCR on 8 March presented a plan for the
repatriation of some two million refugees to Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Beta reported. The plan was prepared at a conference in Oslo and
foresees distinct phases of repatriation. The initial phase will affect
some 500,000 domestic refugees -- who are currently living inside Bosnia
or Croatia -- and 170,000 refugees in neighboring countries such as
Bosnian refugees in Croatia or Serbia. The largest part of those and an
additional 200,000 refugees from other third countries are expected to
return home between April and November 1996. The UNHCR, however, pointed
out that the program will depend on financing, the security situation,
the reconstruction of housing, and the clearing of mines. The UNHCR said
that the whole process of repatriation should be completed by 14
December 1997, two years after the signing of the Dayton agreement. It
further pointed out that the process can only succeed if the Dayton
agreement is implemented, including: guaranteeing freedom of movement;
passing a general amnesty except for war criminals; and creating
mechanisms to protect human rights. The UNHCR urged those countries that
took in refugees to organize information campaigns to inform them about
the current situation in their home towns and villages and about the
possibilities of returning. It also pointed out that refugees who travel
to Bosnia to prepare their eventual repatriation should be guaranteed
the right to return to their country of refuge. -- Fabian Schmidt
[18] KRAJINA SERBS CALL FOR ORGANIZED, COLLECTIVE RETURN.
Two organizations
of Krajina Serb refugees in Banja Luka held a meeting to discuss their
status and possibilities of going home in light of the Dayton agreement,
Beta reported on 9 March. These Serbs fear that they may be driven out
of their current homes. They also complained that any support they get
from the Republika Srpska authorities is slow and insufficient. The
majority of the refugee organizations' members reportedly want to go
home if the move is organized collectively. The organizations also
presented a map showing the location of what they said were 110 mass
graves containing the bodies of some 3,000 Krajina Serbs. -- Fabian
Schmidt
[19] CROATIA GOVERNMENT SAYS BELGRADE HOLDING BACK DATA ON 1,700 KILLED.
M
eanwhile in Zagreb, the authorities raised some questions of their own.
The Croatian government commission on the missing says that Serbia is
hiding information on about 1,700 persons believed killed during the
Serbian war against Croatia in 1991 and in its aftermath the following
year. The commission is dealing with some 2,800 cases of missing
civilians and soldiers in all. A joint Croatian-Serbian group will soon
begin trying to clear up these and other cases in keeping with an
agreement signed during the Dayton conference last year. Vecernji list
carried the report on 4 March. -- Patrick Moore
[20] RUMP YUGOSLAV BUSINESS LEADERS PROMISE TO HELP REBUILD REPUBLIKA SRPSKA.
And Belgrade has been busy on other fronts as well. Television Serbia on
10 March reported that a delegation of businessmen from Serbia and
Montenegro left that same day for two days of meetings in Banja Luka
with ranking political officials of the Republika Srpska. The main item
on the agenda was economic cooperation between rump Yugoslavia and the
Bosnian Serbs. SRNA quoted Mihajlo Milojevic, head of rump Yugoslavia's
chamber of commerce, as saying that "Serbia and Montenegro have no plans
to abandon our [Bosnian Serb] brethren.... With its rich resources and
our aid, the Republika Srpska will become a modern state...." -- Stan
Markotich
[21] REFUGEES IN MONTENEGRO.
The Bosnian Serb entity and Montenegro have had
other items on their joint agenda as well, and on 11 March Montena-fax
reported on continuing refugee arrivals in Montenegro. According to Red
Cross sources in Podgorica, some 200 new refugees arrived in the city in
February, including some 53 families from the Republika Srpska and 16
from Krajina. An estimated 12,500 refugees in all are now in Podgorica.
-- Stan Markotich
[22] SERBIAN POLITICIANS ON KOSOVO.
Another serious issue is Kosovo. On 6
March Nasa Borba featured an interview with Dusan Mihajlovic, leader of
Serbia's small but important New Democracy (ND) party, which functions
as a coalition partner and de facto extension of the ruling Socialist
Party of Serbia in Serbia's legislature. One of the issues he touched on
was the status of Serbia's Kosovar Albanians, suggesting that he and
presumably his patron Milosevic continue to rule out two of the
Kosovars' key demands: genuine autonomy for Kosovo and international
mediation on the status of the once-autonomous province. "The [Kosovo]
question must be solved by Serbs and Albanians. That's much better than
someone else solving it," he observed. On 5 March rump Yugoslav Interior
Minister Vukasin Jokanovic essentially delivered the same message on the
Kosovo question, suggesting that Belgrade was interpreting its
international commitments in such a way as to underscore that Kosovo was
strictly a domestic issue. The issue of Albanians in Serbia will be
dealt with "within Serbia and with respect for civic equality and the
highest standards of rights of ethnic communities, along the lines of
international documents," he was quoted by the BBC monitoring service as
saying. Kosovo is not explicitly covered in the Dayton agreement, but
the UN Security Council has agreed that an "outer wall" of sanctions --
involving admission to international institutions -- will remain for
rump Yugoslavia until the issue has been addressed. The European
Parliament on 1 March also had asked the EU Council of Ministers to
grant full recognition to rump Yugoslavia only if Belgrade reaches an
agreement with the Kosovar shadow-state leadership. -- Stan Markotich
and Fabian Schmidt
[23] BOSNIAN-IRANIAN IMBROGLIO CONTINUES.
Turning even farther afield,
Serbian propaganda has long stressed alleged links between the Bosnian
Muslim leadership and international Islamic fundamentalism represented
by Iran. Washington, moreover, has been concerned about any continued
presence of Iranian fighters or other agents in the embattled republic.
The matter has resurfaced in the wake of Prime Minister Hasan
Muratovic's visit to Tehran and of U.S. media reports that Bosnian
troops are being trained in Iran. Onasa wrote on 6 March that the
Bosnian army press office has officially denied those stories, but the
VOA on 7 March quoted The Washington Post as outlining extensive
military links between the two countries. Onasa wrote that Bosnia had
succeeded in keeping both Iran and the U.S. as allies, but Vecernje
novine objected to "friendly persuasion" by the Americans and Europe --
including Croatia -- against Sarajevo's links to Tehran. Iran has
pledged to help Bosnia rebuild, as have its rivals Turkey and Saudi
Arabia. -- Patrick Moore
[24] BOSNIANS REPORTED AS SENDING TROOPS TO IRAN FOR TRAINING...
The New York
Times on 4 March had reported that the Bosnian government sent troops to
Iran for training in a bid to upgrade its military. NATO officials
suspect that they will learn little of military value but are there
primarily for ideological indoctrination. While the presence of Bosnian
soldiers in Iran does not violate Dayton, it could provoke tensions
between the Bosnian government and the U.S., and between Muslims and
Croats within the Bosnian Federation. Meanwhile, during his visit to
Tehran, Muratovic underlined the importance of Iran's contribution to
the reconstruction of Bosnia, international agencies reported. Iran has
suggested setting up a joint Bosnian-Iranian bank to help promote
confidence in joint investments and private sector activities in the two
countries, Reuters reported on 4 March. Iran has already supplied Bosnia
with aid totaling DM 15 million, Onasa on 11 March quoted an Iranian
official as saying. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[25] ...WHILE U.S. MAKES DELIVERY OF ARMS TO BOSNIA CONDITIONAL ON THE DEPARTURE OF IRANIANS.
State Department spokesman Burns, however, said
that the U.S. will not send Bosnia new military equipment as long as 200
foreign Muslim troops remain in the country in violation of the Dayton
peace accords, AFP reported on 7 March. IFOR claims that Bosnian troops
are still being trained in the country by Iranians. Earlier that week,
the Bosnian army and HVO commanders ended a week-long visit to the U.S.,
where they made agreements on the future training and arming of their
respective forces. Although both Tehran and Bosnian officials have
denied The New York Times story, the Pentagon still may balk at carrying
out its $100 million military assistance program. U.S. experts also
believe that the Islamic charities in Bosnia are only a front for
bringing in military equipment and soldiers, while Iranians hope to gain
influence in the Bosnian military. Burns criticized contacts between the
Bosnian government and Iran. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[26] BOSNIAN SERBS CLAIM NATO USED NUCLEAR WEAPONS.
Finally, while soldiers
of the Atlantic alliance may now be reluctant to protect Sarajevo
grannies in their flats, Bosnian Serb TV claims that NATO was much more
assertive last year. The broadcast said that the alliance's planes used
nuclear weapons in the airstrikes on Serb positions that helped make the
Dayton conference possible. "In their combat assaults on Serb defense
positions and Serb villages, the NATO air force and rapid reaction force
used the most modern combat weapons including low intensity nuclear
weapons that caused a certain degree of long-term radiation. In the
course of their investigations, teams [of experts from Pale and
Belgrade] detected symptoms of radiation-linked diseases in several
dozen people and unusual behavior in cattle," AFP on 12 March quoted the
broadcast as saying. -- Patrick Moore
Copyright (c) 1996 Open Media Research Institute, Inc. All rights
reserved.
This material was reprinted with permission of the Open Media Research Institute, a nonprofit organization with research offices in Prague, Czech Republic.
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