Voice of America, 4 March 1996

From: "Ioannis V. Bousnakis" <[email protected]>

Voice of America Directory

CONTENTS

[01] BOSNIA SITREP BY WAYNE COREY ( VIENNA)

INTRO: A SENIOR BOSNIAN SERB ARMY GENERAL HAS TOLD THE INTERNATIONAL WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL IN THE HAGUE HE IS NOT GUILTY OF WAR CRIMES CHARGES. IN BOSNIA, A NEW DISPUTE IS DEVELOPING BETWEEN MUSLIMS AND CROATS OVER SARAJEVO'S POLITICAL FUTURE. V-O-A'S CENTRAL EUROPEAN CORRESPONDENT WAYNE COREY, REPORTS.

TEXT: GENERAL JDORDGE DJUKIC ENTERED HIS NOT GUILTY PLEA, SAYING HE HAS DONE NOTHING TO JUSTIFY THE INTERNATIONAL WAR CRIMES CHARGES AGAINST HIM.

WEARING CASUAL CLOTHES, THE GENERAL SAID THE FACT THAT HE IS BEING PROSECUTED MEANS ANY BOSNIAN SERB, WHO WAS INVOLVED IN THE WAR IN BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA, COULD ALSO FACE TRIAL FOR WAR CRIMES. BUT GENERAL DJUKIC IS NO ORDINARY SERB. HE HAS BEEN THE SERB ARMY'S CHIEF LOGISTICS OFFICER. IN THAT CAPACITY, HE HAS BEEN CLOSE TO THE SERB ARMY COMMANDER, GENERAL RATKO MLADIC -- AN INDICTED WAR CRIMINAL HIMSELF.

THE WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL INDICTED GENERAL DJUIC LAST WEEK FOR AIDING SERB ATTACKS ON CIVILIANS IN SARAJEVO. THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE WERE KILLED OR INJURED DURING THE NEARLY-FOUR-YEAR LONG SERB SIEGE OF THE BOSNIAN CAPITAL. SARAJEVO IS NOW, OFFICIALLY, AT PEACE. BUT AS SERBS LEAVE THE CITY TO AVOID MUSLIM AND CROAT RULE, NEW PROBLEMS ARE DEVELOPING THERE.

CROAT LEADERS OBJECT TO THE PLANNED COMPOSITION OF AN ASSEMBLY THAT WILL GOVERN THE CITY UNDER THE MUSLIM-CROAT FEDERATION. THE CROATS SAY THEY WOULD NOT BE FAIRLY REPRESENTED IN THE ASSEMBLY. THE CROATS WARN IF THEIR INTERESTS ARE NOT SATISFIED, THEY COULD NOT CONTINUE TO LIVE IN SARAJEVO. MEANWHILE, THE UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS ENVOY TO THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA, ELISABETH REHN, SAYS SHE HAS JUST ENOUGH MONEY TO PAY HER STAFF FOR ANOTHER MONTH.

SPEAKING AT A HUMAN RIGHTS MEETING IN VIENNA, THE ENVOY SAYS SHE HEARS A LOT OF NICE WORDS FROM GOVERNMENTS ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS. BUT WHEN IT COMES TO PROVIDING THE FUNDS HER OFFICE NEEDS TO INVESTIGATE ALLEGED HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES, SHE SAYS THESE GOVERNMENTS ARE QUIETER. (SIGNED)

NEB/WC/ADEN/CF
04-Mar-96 10:06 AM EST (1506 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
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[02] IS BOSNIA BREAKING UP? BY ANDREW N. GUTHRIE (WASHINGTON)

INTRO: ITS BEEN TWO WEEKS SINCE A SUMMIT IN ROME ATTEMPTED TO SHORE UP [STRENGTHEN] THE FALTERING PEACE PROCESS IN BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA. BUT INDICATIONS PERSIST THAT THE VARIOUS ETHNIC GROUPS ARE GOING AHEAD IN PEACE - - AS THEY DID IN WAR - - OF DIVIDING UP THE TROUBLED NATION INTO ETHNIC ENCLAVES. SOME SEE VIRTUALLY NO HOPE OF A MULTI-ETHNIC ENTITY SURVIVING AS A RESULT. TO GAUGE REACTION FROM THE U-S PRESS TO THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS, WE GET A SAMPLING OF EDITORIALS ON THE SUBJECT NOW FROM ________________ AND TODAY'S U-S OPINION ROUNDUP.

TEXT: "THE WASHINGTON POST" WROTE RECENTLY OF THE "FLIGHT FROM SARAJEVO" IN ITS LEAD EDITORIAL, COMMENTING: VOICE; "RECALL THAT BOSNIA IS SUPPOSED TO REMAIN, AT LEAST FORMALLY, A MULTI-ETHNIC STATE AND THAT ITS CAPITAL OF SARAJEVO, WITH ITS SUBURBS, IS SUPPOSED TO BE THE PARTICULAR PLACE WHERE THIS FUNDAMENTAL OBJECTIVE OF PEACE WOULD FIRST AND BEST BE REALIZED. HENCE THE HORROR AND THE TRAGEDY OF WHAT IS HAPPENING IN SARAJEVO NOW. THOUSANDS OF SERBS, MANY ON FOOT, ARE FLEEING THROUGH SNOW AND MUD, DESTROYING POSSESSIONS THEY CANNOT CARRY WITH THEM, SOME BURNING THEIR OWN HOMES. THESE ARE THE PEOPLE WHO WERE MEANT TO SUPPLY THE SERB COMPONENT IN THE NEW SARAJEVO. .... NATO, WHICH LEADS THE MILITARY PEACEKEEPERS, IS PLEASED AS PUNCH OVER ITS CLEAN AND INCISIVE PERFORMANCE IN SEPARATING OUT THE MILITARY FORCES ON THE RIGHT LINES. BUT THE MUCH HARDER MISSION OF CONSOLIDATING THE DAYTON ACCORD'S POLITICAL PROVISIONS, INCLUDING REESTABLISHING A MULTI-ETHNIC SARAJEVO, FALLS TO A POLITICAL TEAM THAT IS BEING STARVED OF THE MONEY, MANPOWER AND AUTHORITY TO DO ITS JOB."

TEXT: THE LARGEST PAPER IN MARYLAND, "THE BALTIMORE SUN", IS ALSO UPSET WITH WHAT IS TAKING PLACE.

VOICE: "ETHNIC PARTITION IS THE ORDER OF THE DAY IN BOSNIA. HOPES THAT SERBS AND MUSLIMS CAN LIVE AS NEIGHBORS ARE GOING SMASH IN THE SUBURBS OF SARAJEVO AS BOSNIAN SERBS JOIN A MASS EXODUS ENCOURAGED BY THEIR LEADERS AND GOADED BY THE MUSLIM-LED GOVERNMENT. HOPES THAT CROATS AND MUSLIMS COULD SHARE AN UNDIVIDED MOSTAR LASTED LITTLE MORE THAN AN HOUR ..... ACTUALLY, BOSNIA HAS ALREADY FALLEN APART, AND ALL THE WEST'S ARMIES AND ALL THE WEST'S DIPLOMATS MAY NOT BE ABLE TO PUT IT BACK TOGETHER AGAIN. ..... AFTER ALMOST FOUR YEARS OF CIVIL WAR, THE KILLING MAY HAVE STOPPED FOR THE MOMENT IN BOSNIA BUT THE MUTUAL HATREDS CONTINUE WITH UNABATED INTENSITY."

TEXT: THE CONTINUING PARTITION OF THE VARIOUS ETHNIC GROUPS IS NOT THE ONLY PROBLEM PLAGUING THE WAR-TORN LAND. ANOTHER, PERHAPS EVEN MORE DEADLY ISSUE FOR THE NATO FORCES IN BOSNIA, IS THE REMAINING GROUP OF HEAVILY ARMED IRANIAN AND OTHER MUSLIM FREEDOM FIGHTERS, OR MUJAHADEEN. IRONICALLY, "THE DENVER POST" SAYS, THE WEST HAS ONLY ITSELF TO BLAME FOR THEIR PRESENCE.

VOICE: "... FOR THREE YEARS, WHILE THE WORLD COMMUNITY BY AND LARGE WATCHED FROM THE SIDELINES AS BOSNIANS WERE SLAUGHTERED AND DRIVEN FROM THEIR HOMES, THE ONLY COUNTRIES THAT OUTRIGHT SIDED WITH THE BOSNIANS WERE ISLAMIC REGIMES, INCLUDING IRAN AND SAUDI ARABIA. IT SHOULDN'T BE SURPRISING THAT THE BOSNIANS, AT LEAST UNOFFICIALLY, NOW ARE RELUCTANT TO KICK OUT THE SUPPORTERS WHO HAD ANSWERED THEIR CALL FOR HELP."

TEXT: DURING THE PAST TWO WEEKS, THE PRINCIPAL ARCHITECT OF THE DAYTON PEACE ACCORDS, ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE RICHARD HOLBROOKE, LEFT THE FEDERAL SERVICE TO BECOME A WALL STREET BANKER. AS HE STEPPED DOWN, "THE BOSTON GLOBE" TOOK NOTE OF HIS ACCOMPLISHMENTS, BUT SUGGESTED THAT TIMING ALSO PLAYED A KEY ROLE IN THE QUALIFIED SUCCESS AT DAYTON.

VOICE: "THE STARS WERE ALIGNED IN [MR] HOLBROOKE'S FAVOR. BATTLEFIELD REVERSALS, ABANDONMENT BY SERBIA'S SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC AND NATO'S CARRYING THROUGH WITH A BOMBING THREAT INSTEAD OF BLUFFING, ALL HELPED CONVINCE THE BOSNIAN SERBS THAT THEY WERE NO LONGER IN THE ASCENDANCY AND THAT DAYTON WOULD GIVE THEM THE DE FACTO STATE THEY HAD FOUGHT FOR. THE CROATS HAD GAINED ALL THEIR BATTLEFIELD OBJECTIVES AND THEN SOME, AND THE BOSNIAN MUSLIMS SAW THAT TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY, AT LEAST ON PAPER, WAS THE BEST THEY COULD HOPE FOR. BY HOLDING OUT AGAINST PRESSURE TO INTERVENE MILITARILY DURING THE WAR, WHICH UNDOUBTEDLY WOULD HAVE MADE MATTERS WORSE, THE CLINTON ADMINISTRATION WAS IN A BETTER POSITION TO BROKER PEACE. YET WHEN SO MUCH BLOOD HAD BEEN DRAWN, IT TOOK SOMEONE TO CRACK HEADS TO GET AN AGREEMENT, WHICH IS WHAT [SECRETARY] HOLBROOKE DID."

TEXT: AND LASTLY, FROM "THE SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER" THESE THOUGHTS:

VOICE: "THE INTERNATIONAL PEACEKEEPERS CAN TAKE NOTHING FOR GRANTED ABOUT THE WILLINGNESS OF SERBS, CROATS AND BOSNIAN MUSLIMS TO COEXIST. THERE ARE TOO MANY MASS GRAVES OF MASSACRE VICTIMS TO BE UNCOVERED, TOO MANY WAR CRIMINALS AT LARGE. BUT THE HOSTILE FACTIONS MUST NOW SETTLE FOR THE ONLY PEACE THEY CAN GET. THERE MAY NOT BE A THIRD CHANCE TO OK THE DEAL WORKED OUT IN DAYTON."

TEXT: AND WITH THAT WE CONCLUDE THIS BRIEF SAMPLING OF CURRENT U-S EDITORIAL OPINION ON THE SITUATION IN THE BALKANS.

NEB/ANG/NL
04-Mar-96 12:10 PM EST (1710 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
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[03] YUGO / WAR CRIMES (S ONLY) BY WAYNE COREY (VIENNA)

INTRO: A SENIOR BOSNIAN-SERB GENERAL HAS PLEADED NOT GUILTY TO INTERNATIONAL WAR CRIMES CHARGES. V-O-A'S CENTRAL EUROPEAN CORRESPONDENT, WAYNE COREY, REPORTS.

TEXT: GENERAL DJORDJE DJUKIC TOLD THE INTERNATIONAL WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL IN THE HAGUE HE HAS DONE NOTHING THAT WOULD JUSTIFY THE CHARGES AGAINST HIM.

HE SAYS THE FACT HE IS APPEARING BEFORE THE TRIBUNAL MEANS ANY SERB WHO WAS INVOLVED IN THE WAR IN BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA COULD END UP FACING TRIAL.

GENERAL DJUKIC WAS THE BOSNIAN-SERB ARMY'S CHIEF LOGISTICS OFFICER. HE WAS INDICTED LAST WEEK FOR AIDING SERB ATTACKS ON CIVILIANS IN SARAJEVO.

THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE IN SARAJEVO WERE KILLED OR INJURED. BESIDES LAUNCHING INDISCRIMINATE ATTACKS ON CIVILIANS, THE SERBS CUT OFF SUPPLIES OF WATER, NATURAL GAS, AND ELECTRICITY DURING THEIR NEARLY FOUR-YEAR SIEGE OF THE BOSNIAN CAPITAL.

IF THE INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL FINDS GENERAL DJUKIC GUILTY OF WAR CRIMES, HE COULD SPEND THE REST OF HIS LIFE IN PRISON.

THE TRIBUNAL HAS INDICTED 53 PEOPLE SO FAR, MOSTLY SERBS. A NUMBER OF BOSNIAN MUSLIMS ARE EXPECTED TO BE INDICTED THIS YEAR. (SIGNED)

NEB/WC/JWH/RAE
04-Mar-96 9:24 AM EST (1424 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America