bosnet-digest V5 #81 / Wednesday, 28 February 1996

From: Nermin Zukic <[email protected]>

Bosnia-Herzegovina News Directory

CONTENTS

[01] NEWS - Feb. 27, 96 ("Planetary Legion"; B&H Military Training; Koschnik)

``This 'Planetary Legion' would be under the sole orders of the United Nations Security Council and its mission, in case of conflict between states or in civil wars, would be to protect civilians against massacres... The members of this 'Legion' would be recruited by the U.N., have appropriate military means at their disposal and would become citizens of the U.N. itself...''

``The importance and purity of their humanitarian mission would undoubtedly create an 'esprit de corps' strong enough for them to be prepared to sacrifice themselves if necessary and not just get out of harm's way as (peacekeepers) did during the mass executions at Srebrenica [done by nationalist Serbs] or in the case of the murder of the Bosnian Vice President [actually Bosnian Deputy Premier Hakija Turajic, who was murdered while in a French army vehicle]...''

Klarsfeld also called for creation of a permanent international war crimes tribunal to judge war criminals of all conflicts.

``Jews are today no longer persecuted but the memory of Auschwitz demands that we confront the bloody events which the world has known since, even in the 1990s and in Europe itself...''

The six-man Bosnian delegation includes Gen. Rasim Delic, commander of the Bosnian Army, and Major Gen. Zivko Budimir, chief of staff of the Federation force. They met on Monday with Gen. John Shalikashvili, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; National Security Adviser Anthony Lake, Undersecretary of State Peter Tarnoff and other military officials.

From Tuesday through Thursday the Bosnians will visit U.S. military training facilities at Fort Polk, Louisiana; Fort Benning, Georgia; and Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

According to one analysis of the needs of the Bosnian Federation armies, it would take at least $800 million to make their capability comparable to the Bosnian Serb forces. ``... We don't intend to buy it all. A lot of it will be donated,'' said one official. United States has promised to turn over $100 million worth of its military stocks as part of the program. The Bosnian immediate military priority inlcudes control systems and infantry weapons, but they also need artillery and ''modest'' quantities of tanks.

The Clinton administration has made a major public issue out of the fact that an estimated 200 Islamic fighters remain Bosnia-Hercegovina, which still remains largely unresloved.

DELEGATION OF R/F B-H AND REPUBLIC CROATIA IN SPLIT

HANS KOSCHNIK RESIGNED

FEDERAL POLICE ENTERED NEDZARICI AND RAJLOVAC

In a completely ruined home for old people at Nedzarici, Federal police Forces found 8O old people together with only 5 staff members. They were promised all necessary help. The UN spokesman Ivanko warned that at present the most tensed situation is on the territory of Ilijas where the Federal Police has to take control on February 29. Most of the Serbs who lived there were leaving that territory in haste.

T. Moyer, representative of IFOR stated that Pale authorities did not managed to organize convoys of vehicles which had to help mass moving of Serbs. Bosnian Serbs troops are in complete chaos which is the reason why the convoys were not efficiently organized, emphasized Moyer. (end) S.K.

JOINT PATROL IN HOTEL "ERO"

UNHCR REFUSES TO MOVE SERBS

Contrary to IFOR, UNHCR does not want to help moving of Serbian population. UNHCR spokesman Janowski emphasized that "problem in Vogosca did not occur because Federal Police Forces treated Serbs badly but because paranoia spreads among the local population". Janowski claims that M. Krajisnik is personally responsible "for spreading the fear and panic among Serbian population around Sarajevo. He told them before that Vogosca was deliberately selected to allegedly be a trap: "when Federal Police Forces enter Vogosca they will prevent Serbs to leave". Janowski said that Krajisnik, accompanied by admiral Smith, in Vogosca held the real political rally. "He told people he would like them to remain, but he also suggested that he knew that they all want to leave. The majority of several hundred Serbs which remained in Vogosca continue to belive what Pale's "ministry of truth" claims, and not what the facts say". (end) S.K.

AMERICANS OFFER HELP

CARS STONED

RENEWED RELATIONS BETWEEN NATO AND BOSNIAN SERBS

Martic who has been living in the Bosnian town of Banja Luka, is under protection of nationalist Bosnian Serbs, has been able to elude the tribunal which indicted him.

[02] Immediate Release Of Detained Generals?

The International War Crimes Tribunal in the Hague is hearing demands by lawyers for the immediate release of a detained Bosnian-Serb General. Lawyers for Serb General Djordje Djukic told the War Crimes Tribunal it has no legal right to continue to hold him. The General has not been charged with war crimes. But a tribunal judge says if he is released, he would be sent back to the custody of the Bosnian Government.

War Crimes Tribunal prosecutor Richard Goldstone contends the Tribunal has the right to hold the General for a further period of time. Mr. Goldstone points out the officer is mentioned in the Tribunal's indictments of the Serb political leader, Radovan Karadzic, and of the Serb army commander General Ratko Mladic.

In Sarajevo, NATO confirms British Troops of the IFOR saw Mr. Karadzic in Bosnia and Herzegovina Tuesday, but deliberately made no attempt to detain him. A NATO spokesman in Sarajevo says British troops saw Mr. Karadzic in or near a building in the Serb stronghold of Banja Luka. But, the spokesman says Mr. Karadzic was accompanied by bodyguards and civilians, and NATO troops feared there would be bloodshed if they tried to seize him.

The War Crimes Tribunal, which is pushing ahead with hearings on alleged atrocities in the Balkans, wrapped up testimony Tuesday on Milan Martic, a Croatian Serb leader accused of ordering a vicious rocket attack on the heart of the Croatian capital. Seven people were killed and more than 200 injured in the assault on Zagreb last May. The cluster bombs, the prosecution contends, were deliberately aimed at a civilian area where there were no military installations.

In newspaper and television interviews, Martic has said he bombed Zagreb to stop Croatian army attacks on a different part of Serb-held territory. Whether that's "true" -- that the Serbs acted in self-defense is one of the questions the tribunal must decide. Depending on how they see it, the judges could decide to either indict Martic and issue an international warrant for his arrest, or cross him off the list of suspected war criminals. Their ruling is expected next week.

[03] Sanctions Against Bosnian Serbs Lifted

The Un Security Council suspended the international sanctions after NATO confirmed the Serbs are complying with military provisions of the peace agreement for Bosnia and Herzegovina. The sanctions, imposed after the Bosnian Serbs rejected an earlier peace plan, prohibited trade with any company owned or controlled by Bosnian Serb forces, froze Bosnian Serb financial assets abroad, and banned key Bosnian Serb officials from traveling abroad.

If Serb compliance stops, the Security Council could reimpose the sanctions at NATO's request and without a formal vote. The removal of the sanctions was not linked to Serb cooperation or the lack of it with the International War Crimes Tribunal in the Hague.

Bosnian Serb Leader Radovan Karadzic says the suspension of the sanctions means the "Serb Republic" will have a great future. His deputy, Nikola Koljevic, says the end of UN sanctions and the earlier lifting of Yugoslav sanctions against the Serbs are important moves to strengthen peace in the Balkans. The Serb political and military leaders have both been indicted as war criminals. Both of them have said they will not turn themselves in and face trial on genocide and other war crimes charges.

[04] US -- "SR Yugoslavia"

The United States has condemned what it says is a campaign to restrict freedom of the press and expression in Serb-led "Yugoslavia." State Department Spokesman Glynn Davies says that "Yugoslav" Supreme court's ruling against the SOROS Foundation is unjustified. The Court upheld an earlier decision by the Government to revoke the foundation's permission to operate in the country.

"This action, combined with the takeover of independent broadcaster Studio B just recently, appears to be part of an orchestrated campaign by President Slobodan Milosevic and his ruling party to hamper opposition parties in advance of the elections that are coming up this year," said Davis.

He added that Belgrade is fully aware of the US position. The State Department official says Belgrade's action could block "Yugoslavia" from receiving much-needed foreign financial aid.