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Text File | 1995-03-30 | 58KB | 1,314 lines

====================================================== TODAY'S ISSUES==> TOPIC: MILITARY & ARMS Ref: C3RM2531 Date: 03/22/95 From: STEVE SCHULTZ (Leader) Time: 06:42pm \/To: ALL (Read 0 times) Subj: BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA UPDATE A Norwegian doctor in Tuzla said yesterday that 26 Bosnian Government soldiers were killed Monday when a Serbian shell hit the main Bosnian Army barracks in the town. Shelling continued yesterday, with at least six shells hitting the town and 50 hitting a nearby airfield. In all, 500 detonations were observed yesterday morning, with shelling easing in the afternoon. Bosnian Serbs stole a heavy machine gun and 1,000 rounds of ammunitionfrom British Army peacekeepers in a Sarajevo suberb yesterday. The theft was not resisted. On Monday, Serbs took an antiaircraft gun, a 105 mm gun, a 76 mm gun, and a 120 mm mortar from a U.N. weapons collection site at Lukavica. The site is guarded by 30 French peacekeepers, who offered no resistance. (Roger Cohen/N.Y.T.) ----------------------------------------------------------------- ------- B o s N e t - Mar. 23, 1995 ========================================== source REUTER, AP, FPB FRONTLINES, Bosnia and Herzegovina (Mar 22) UN reported 1,432 detonations in the Majevica area in a 24-hour period. Three mortar rounds landed 50 yards from a UN observation post. There were no casualties or damage, UN spokesman Lt. Col. Gary Coward said. UN officials said there were indications that government troops had gained one or two square miles, but UN assessments have been limited by restrictions on peacekeepers' movements. Government forces apparently want to wrest control of artillery positions on Majevica from which separatist Serbs fire on Tuzla. Fighting in the area Wednesday was centered east of a key Serb communications tower and north of government-controlled Sapna town, 50 miles northwest of Sarajevo, said Sultan Babar, a UN spokesman in Tuzla. Three western hilltops in the Majevica region taken by government forces on Monday were recaptured by separatist Bosnian Serbs late Tuesday after they brought in reinforcements. Analysts say the Majevica offensive is part of a push by government forces to seize a vital Serb supply corridor in the extreme northeast that connects Serbs in western Bosnia and in Serb-held parts of Croatia. Explosions were reported in the supply corridor as well Tuzla was put on general alert after explosions were heard on the outskirts. The Bosnian administration for the Tuzla region has sent a letter to the UN Secretary General Boutros Ghali and his special envoy Yasushi Akashi to protest against the Bosnian Serb artillery attacks on the Tuzla UN-designated safe area. Radio Tuzla reported that the death toll of yesterday's Serb artillery attack in the area has risen to 21 following two more people dying from severe wounds. Another five people are critically injured and a further 74 being treated for wounds. Fighting was reported on Mount Vlasic, north of Travnik in central Bosnia, where Serb military sources said Bosnian government forces had captured three villages, the Belgrade-based Beta news agency reported. Clashes also continued in the Bihac pocket in northwestern Bosnia, Coward said. In Sarajevo, separatist Serbs have shown increasing disregard for the authority of the UN force. One person was reported killed and two were wounded by sniper fire in government-held parts of the capital Wednesday. Two UN jeeps were stolen at gunpoint in Ilidza on Tuesday evening by uniformed Serbs. As reported by UNPROFOR HQ in Sarajevo, separatist Bosnian Serbs forced Danish peacekeepers out of their vehicle, and then disappeared with the vehicle, artillery and the radio. Some time later, the same incident happened to two French peacekeepers. "There isn't really much we can do in the sense we're dealing with an area where...there are approximately 1,500 armed Serb soldiers," UN spokesman Alexander Ivanko told. UN officials hoped to resume the airlift into Sarajevo on Friday, nearly two weeks after its suspension because of attacks on the airport. Control of Borders Unacceptable For Krajina BELGRADE, Serbia (Mar 21) The leader of the Krajina Serbs in Croatia Milan Martic said on Tuesday Zagreb's demand that the UN take control of border posts currently in Serb hands was unacceptable. He was speaking after a second round of talks with international peace mediator Thorvald Stoltenberg, in Belgrade. He said the current UNPROFOR in Croatia already had monitoring rights at border crossings. "As for the control of the borders we disagree with that," he said. The Head of the Croatian President's Office, Mr Hrvoje Sarinic, said the new forces would not be deployed along the current lines of separation because the Croatian Serbs would see the lines as borders of their own state. The other main point of contention, the size of the U.N force, appears to have been resolved. After initial objections to any change to the number of UN troops, Martic said on Tueday size was not a problem. Michael Williams, chief UN spokesman in Zagreb said UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali would probably present a recommendation for a new mandate, based on Stoltenberg's talks, to the UN Security Council by March 27. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ------- B o s N e t - Mar. 24, 1995 ========================================== Bosnian Army have gained more than a mile of territory from the nationalist Bosnian Serbs in one of three battle fronts in the Majevica mountains, near the city of Tuzla, UN spokesman Lt. Col. Gary Coward said. Coward said government troops also may have taken a strategic communications tower on Mount Stolice, east of Tuzla, which has served as a key radio link between nationalist Serb occupied territory in eastern and northwestern Bosnia. ``Intense fighting and shelling is continuing to the east and northeast of Tuzla,'' said U.N. spokesman Alexander Ivanko, referring to it as a ``full combat.'' Lord David Owen, the European Union negotiator on Yugoslavia, said after meeting in Belgrade with Serbia President Slobodan Milosevic that both sides were ``hotting up the war with no dialogue on peace talks.'' U.N. officials postponed plans for a trial flight into the Sarajevo's airport, despite nationalist Bosnian Serb and government guarantees. Nationalist Serbs in Sarajevo have shown increasing disregard for the authority of the U.N. force. Four weapons were seized from a U.N. storage site over the past week, and more U.N. vehicles and weapons have been hijacked. Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev said on Thursday he had presented a new peace plan for former Yugoslavia to U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher. He still claimed: "We want the Contact Group to remain united." "You can call it our new plan. You can call it some new ideas coming from us. We have not slackened in our efforts (for peace)... On the whole, a lot of ideas are afloat to try to save the peace process." The plan was apparently worked out with Serbia. Under the plan, Serb-led Yugoslavia would recognise Bosnia and Croatia in return for the simultaneous lifting of U.N. sanctions. "The Gorazde force continues to experience jamming and other localised interference on its radio net and has started using the Welsh language as a means of confusing the perpetrators," said U.N. spokesman Gary Coward. Welsh, he said, is "very useful as a way to pass sensitive information and personal information. we're not the only bilingual battalion in Bosnia." Bosnia's U.N. Ambassador Muhamed Sacirbey said in a press conference there was a "possibility we would come to a conclusion that the mandate unless changed should not be renewed at all but we are avoiding any direct threat. We are saying that we are not in agreement, at the moment, for anything more than a 30-day extension." The UNPROFOR mandate expires on March 31 and the Security Council is currently devising different mandates for all three countries. In a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic said, ``It is imperative that a thorough review be undertaken'' of the peacekeeping mandate and its implementation. ``We would be willing to favorably consider extending the existing mandate for a period of no more than 30 days to accomplish this comprehensive review,'' Izetbegovic wrote. Muhamed Sacirbey, the Bosnian ambassador to the United Nations, listed several things he said the U.N. troops must do better: - ensure deliveries of humanitarian aid,- block nationalist Serb fighters from crossing into Bosnia from Serbia and Croatia,- reopen Sarajevo airport,- protect six U.N.-declared ``safe havens''. ``We are just hoping that they will fulfill their existing mandate, no matter how inadequate it is,'' Sacirbey said. Bosnian Army sources said they seized control of a communications tower on Mount Vlasic, just north of Travnik in central Bosnia. Nationalist Bosnian Serb military sources described the situation in the area was ``critical.'' If government forces gain control of all of Mount Vlasic, it would open paths for government forces to advance upon the nationalist Serb occupied town of Jajce. In Belgrade, the Serbian president met with a Bosnian diplomat, Muhamed Filipovic, the first known direct contact between the Bosnian government and Milosevic without mediation. According to Bosnian media, Filipovic told Milosevic that Bosnia's territorial integrity must be ensured under any peace plan. A delegation of Bosnian Serbs who support Bosnian government also arrived in Belgrade for talks, a Bosnian government official said. There was no immediate confirmation in Belgrade. Milosevic is blamed by many for instigating the war that has left more than 200,000 people are dead or missing in Bosnia. U.N. spokesman Alexander Ivanko said Bosnian government officials may have decided a direct approach to Belgrade was the only remaining diplomatic option. ``If I were them, I'd be frustrated with the international community's efforts,'' Ivanko said. Relief flights into Sarajevo resumed today after almost two weeks and Croatian Krajina Serbs allowed an aid convoy into hungry Bihac. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ------- B o s N e t - Mar. 26, 1995 ========================================== BELGRADE, Yugoslavia--3/25/95 BALKANS: Analysts believe Milosevic is ready to give up dream of Greater Serbia in exchange for normalization. By TYLER MARSHALL, Times Staff Writer Despite his recent refusal to become part of a U.S.-backed strategy to help end the Balkans conflict, Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic may in principle still be eager to cooperate with the West, according to diplomats and political analysts here. That assessment comes amid suggestions that the Clinton Administration is making new overtures to the Serbian leader, apparently pressing him to support measures to guarantee the territorial integrity of Bosnia-Herzegovina in return for a partial lifting of economic sanctions against Serbia. And the Serbian president met this week in Belgrade with a Bosnian diplomat, Muhamed Filipovic, in the first known direct contact between the Bosnian government and Milosevic without mediation. Filipovic told Milosevic that Bosnia's territorial integrity must be ensured, Bosnian media said. No other details were released. While Milosevic is seen as pivotal to a settlement of the Balkans crisis, he is also seen by many as the main villain of the tragedy that has befallen the former Yugoslav federation because of his aggressive, cynical manipulation of Serbian nationalism. His policies and the resulting conflicts have brought stiff U.N. sanctions against Serbia and led to Serbs being treated as international outcasts--despite the fact that they too have become victims of "ethnic cleansing" and other atrocities. But the Serbian leader was the focus of a flurry of diplomatic activity earlier this year as representatives of five of the world's most powerful nations--the United States, Russia, France, Britain and Germany--pressed him to formally recognize Croatia and Bosnia, which would help undercut the Serbian nationalist movements he once strongly encouraged in those former Yugoslav republics. As a reward, the major powers had promised to lift economic sanctions against Serbia, at least temporarily and possibly for good. While Milosevic rejected the offer, diplomats and political analysts here said he did so more because of the timing and terms of the Western offer than for ideological reasons. "First lift sanctions, then begin discussions about normalizing relations in the region," was the comment of Vladislav Jovanovic, foreign minister of Serb-dominated Yugoslavia, now reduced to just Serbia and Montenegro. While it remains unclear how the Serbian leader will react to the latest overture, many argue that recognition and normalization are now exactly what Milosevic wants. "He would prefer recognition over continued war and continued sanctions," said Bratislav Grubacic, who runs a Belgrade political newsletter, VIP. "But he's in a very delicate position within his own structure. It's very difficult for him internally." A senior Western diplomat based here went further, saying that Milosevic had already "entered into an unwritten contract" to support international efforts to end the conflict but that he "expected more than the crumbs from the rich man's table in return." The comment was an apparent reference to the Contact Group's offer to lift sanctions against Serbia only temporarily in return for the recognition. The fact that Milosevic, the godfather of post-Cold War Serbian nationalism, would even consider formal recognition of Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina at a time when the status of Serbian minorities in both places remains unresolved is as much a reflection of the man himself as it is of the difficulties he faces. In part, it merely confirms what observers here have suspected for much of the past year--that Milosevic has discarded his vision of a Greater Serbia as easily as he discovered it eight years ago. Then, he seized on discrimination against the Serbian minority in Kosovo province to stoke a more subtle sense among Serbs that history had treated their people badly in the united Yugoslavia. He successfully rode this nationalist fervor to the peak of power in Serbia. But with Serbian pushes into Croatia and Bosnia in stalemate, his own country suffering under the weight of economic sanctions and the wind gone from Serbian nationalism, he reportedly wanted to start again--this time, apparently, as a social democrat. "He used to be the great leader helping Serbs emerge from the humiliation of Yugoslavia, but he's changing the base of his power and setting the stage to end the war," said Predrag Simic, director of the Institute for International Politics and Economics here. "Milosevic has no long-term vision; he lives week to week." Added Milos Vaslic, commentator for the Belgrade weekly, Vreme: "Milosevic never had an ideology. He's always been a pragmatist." Goran Percevic, the youthful vice president of Milosevic's Socialist Party of Serbia, sat slumped in his chair, his left ear a few inches away from a stereo speaker blaring out the sounds of Billy Idol, and compared his leader to European figures of the moderate left. "He's in the mold of men like [Socialist Spanish Prime Minister] Felipe Gonzalez and [youthful British opposition Labor Party leader] Tony Blair," he said. "We feel close to the Socialist International. We want to become members and expect they will accept us." A number of factors appear to lie behind Milosevic's latest shift. In Croatia and Bosnia, militant Serbian goals for independence have become liabilities. In Croatia, where a U.N.-monitored cease-fire line has left 30% of the country under Serbian control, Milosevic has supported a gradual restoration of economic ties and would like to negotiate normalization of relations with Zagreb. In Bosnia, he has fallen out with his own creation, Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic. A militant nationalist now inconveniently out of step with Milosevic's new image, Karadzic has also defied his former mentor by twice refusing to accept internationally proposed settlements that could have ended the conflict. Many here believe that Milosevic willingly imposed the blockade against his Bosnian Serb cousins last August in return for an easing of international sanctions on air traffic, sports and cultural events. They also reject charges that the embargo is not enforced. The sanctions, now nearly 3 years old, have hurt but have not pushed Serbia over the edge. One diplomatic estimate put its gross national product last year at about half the 1990 level. There are shortages of fuel, medical supplies and some specialty goods, but Serbia is self-sufficient in food. Still, Milosevic needs to have the sanctions lifted to get Serbia moving forward again--and keep himself on his new, moderate path and, above all, firmly in control. "We never thought he would be around this long," said Vladeta Jankovic, vice president of the opposition Democratic Party of Serbia. "We failed to realize that the only constant in his life is to stay in power." Los Angeles Times =================================================== ZAGREB, Croatia--3/26/95 BALKANS: The government appears to have gained control of two towers held by Serbs. By DEAN E. MURPHY, Times Staff Writer After nearly a week of renewed fighting in Bosnia-Herzegovina, government forces appear to have gained control of two mountaintop communication towers vital to rebel Serbs, the United Nations reported Saturday. The government advances were described as the most significant since an offensive in October captured large stretches of territory in the Bihac region of northwest Bosnia, gains that were later lost in a fierce counterattack by the Serbs. "It seems the Bosnian forces were successful with their offensive against the Bosnian Serbs and have pushed the confrontation line away at least three kilometers [two miles]," U.N. spokesman Alexander Ivanko said of battles in the Majevica hills of northeast Bosnia. "It seems they have struck a severe blow to the command-and-control capabilities of the Bosnian Serb army." U.N. military officials said the communication towers--one in the Majevica hills and one in central Bosnia on Mt. Vlasic--may have been dismantled or made inoperable by the Bosnian Serbs before the government troops' advance. Telephone lines were cut and some radio and television transmissions were down in Bosnian Serb territory, but a U.N. military official said the rebel army probably has a fallback system for essential military communications. The United Nations has been unable to provide casualty counts from the renewed fighting because the warring sides have clamped down on the movement of its observers and peacekeepers. "We suspect the casualties are high because of the intensity of the fighting, but we believe they are being taken to field hospitals, which we can't get to," Ivanko said. In a statement Saturday to a Bosnian Serb news agency, rebel leader Radovan Karadzic reportedly made a "last call" for "immediate direct talks on peace, with cessation of all offensives." Karadzic called on the warring sides to return to the battle lines of last December, when former President Jimmy Carter helped broker a cease-fire that was later broadened into a four-month truce. With the fighting this past week, hopes of extending the truce beyond its April 30 expiration have been shattered. The peace appeal came just a day after Bosnian Serb television broadcast Karadzic, dressed in combat fatigues, touring a town near the most fierce fighting in the Majevica hills. Karadzic reportedly vowed to fight on, saying "there is no more truce." "The whole nation will put on uniforms if necessary," he threatened. And hours after Karadzic called for peace talks Saturday, Serbian gunners appeared to belie his initiative by launching fierce artillery attacks on government-held towns. The fighting was the worst since the Carter-brokered truce took effect Jan. 1. The capital, Sarajevo, experienced the most intense artillery and small-arms exchanges in recent months. Serbian attacks on the Muslim eastern section of Mostar in southwest Bosnia killed a child and wounded six other civilians, U.N. officials said. And a heavy artillery attack on the eastern town of Gorazde left several people dead and wounded, prompting NATO jets to fly over the city in a show of force, Bosnian television reported. Bosnian TV also reported Serbian shelling of several other government-held cities and towns, including Velika Kladusa in the northwest and Gracanica and Tuzla in north-central Bosnia. The Bosnian government has insisted that it will not talk with Karadzic until he accepts the Contact Group peace plan reluctantly approved by the government last year. The plan--offered by the United States, Britain, France, Germany and Russia--would partition the country roughly in half. It has been repeatedly rejected by the rebel Serbs. Western diplomats and military analysts said that Karadzic, who is known for his unpredictable antics, would prefer to freeze territorial gains made over the last three years. In that sense, his latest peace bid offered nothing new. The Bosnian Serbs control 70% of Bosnia, giving them a strong bargaining position for a negotiated settlement. Los Angeles Times ----------------------------------------------------------------- ------- B o s N e t - Mar. 26, 1995 ========================================== <sources AP, REUTER> FRONTLINES, Bosnia and Herzegovina UN sources say they believe the Bosnian government has gained 30-50 square kilometres of ground north of Tuzla and captured a radio and television tower at Stolice near Tuzla in the northeast and another near Travnik in the midlands west of Sarajevo. In an interview Friday Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic said that "the (Serbian) artillery has been moved back several kilometers from Tuzla." Kris Janowski, a UN relief official, said about 1,200 Bosnian Serb civilians had fled the government army advance. He said aid workers were told that telephone service in the area had been cut because government troops captured the communications tower. Food, mattresses and blankets were sent on Tuesday to the Serb-held town of Skender Vakuf where the villagers were being housed in schools and a hotel, a UN official said. As a response to Government troops advance separatist Serb gunners launched artillery attacks on government-held towns in several parts of Bosnia. UN officials said artillery or mortar fire from Serb positions hit Mostar, killing a 14-year-old girl and wounding six other civilians. Bosnian radio said 11 people were injured, two of them children, and several killed in a heavy artillery attack on the eastern town of Gorazde. NATO jets flew over Gorazde apparently to deter further Serb attacks. Major Herve Gourmelon, a UN spokesman in Sarajevo, said Saturday's attack on Gorazde occurred over an 11-minute period shortly after 4 p.m. (1500 GMT) when thirteen 152mm howitzer rounds slammed into the town. Bosnian TV reported Serb shelling of several other government-held cities and towns, including Velika Kladusa, Travnik, Gracanica and Tuzla. UN sources reported 318 detonations around the Travnik area in an eight-hour period on Saturday and 700 detonations in the Majevica hills around Stolice over the same period. "It appears the Serbs are using their usual tactic of shelling civilian population centres to try to halt Bosnian army ground actions," said a UN source who asked not to be named. A Bosnian Government soldier was shot dead by a sniper in Sarajevo and the UN said a shell fried from separatist Serb position killed a middle-aged civilian in the UN safe haven of Bihac town on Friday. A sniper's bullet hit the US ambassador's car in Sarajevo on Saturday. No one was injured, embassy officials said. The chief of security, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said three shots were fired from rebel Bosnian Serb territory as two embassy vehicles pulled away from the Holiday Inn. The car had no markings, but is well known around Sarajevo as a US Embassy vehicle. As fighting swirled across Bosnia, U.N. special envoy Yasushi Akashi warned that a resumption of all-out war here might doom the United Nations peacekeeping mission. "If the situation gets really bad we may have to consider withdrawing from Bosnia, with assistance from NATO," he said. <source AP, REUTER> Separatist Serbs Call For Talks BELGRADE, Serbia (Mar 26) Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, under growing pressure from advancing government forces, called today for an end to fighting and immediate peace talks. Karadzic issued a "last call" for "immediate direct talks on peace, with cessation of all offensives." By direct peace talks, Karadzic meant talks with the Bosnian government, apparently without foreign mediation. Kemal Muftic, an adviser to Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic, noted Karadzic's appeal contradicted his statements made Friday, when Karadzic declared the truce over and called for a broader mobilization of soldiers. He said he expected a Serb counteroffensive. On Friday, Karadzic had signalled Serb resolve to respond harshly and pursue the Bosnian army "into Tuzla, if necessary." Karadzic, appearing in combat fatigues east of Tuzla, called for a counter-attack against government troops and vowed to continue the fight until the Bosnian army was completely defeated. <source REUTER> Serbia Wont Recognise Bosnia SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina (Mar 24) Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic said on Friday that recent diplomatic contacts between his government and Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic had produced nothing more than an exchange of well-known views. "I don't expect any major changes in the near future." Bosnia's ambassador to Switzerland, Muhamed Filipovic, met Milosevic in Belgrade recently, prompting some observers to speculate a deal was being hatched to increase pressure on Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic to swap land for peace. Izetbegovic indicated the Bosnian government was happy to have contacts with Milosevic despite the lack of any immediate payoff. He reassured citizens that a recent whirlwind of diplomatic contacts in Europe, Asia and the United States had not altered his government's basic stand on key issues. "We will fight and we are in favour of a sovereign and independent Bosnia and Herzegovina within its internationally recognised borders," Izetbegovic said. In an interview for Croatian newspapers 'Slobodna Dalmacija' Bosnian President accused unnamed leaders in Croatia of undermining the federation linking Bosnia's Croats and Moslems. Izetbegovic did not identify his critics. But he denied Croatian President Franjo Tudjman's assertion that his absence from the federation's first anniversary celebrations in Washington was deliberate. <source AP> New Croatia Force Outlined UNITED NATIONS, New York (Mar 25) Key Security Council members have agreed to scale back the UN force in Croatia and deploy around 1,000 peacekeepers at the border, an American official said Friday. The US-backed draft resolution that was sent to members of the 15-nation council on Friday does not specify the number of troops that would be deployed. But the US official said up to 7,000 troops would be sent to the areas separating Croatian troops and rebel Serbs. Some 1,000 would monitor the borders with Bosnia and Serbia, he said on condition of anonymity. The US official added that the "function of this force will be to deter the transfer of military supplies from one side to the other," but it would not be authorized to use force to halt shipments. However, Yasushi Akashi the UN special envoy said on Saturday that UN troops may be able to halt military supplies to Croatia's rebel Serbs under a planned new mandate, "I think that can be done -- stopping and, if necessary, searching vehicles for military supplies, arms, ammunition, as well as ... military personnel," he tolf in an interview. The US official said France, Britain, Germany and Russia have agreed to the principles of the draft resolution. He indicated Croatia had agreed to the proposal and rebel Serbs would not oppose it. A senior UN official warned that the differences between Croatia and Serb rebels on the details of the UN force remains wide and that further negotiations on the US proposal are necessary. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ------- B o s N e t - Mar. 27, 1995 ========================================== Serbs open fire on Sarajevo and other civilians Fighting in Bosnia slowed on Sunday. UN peacekeepers said on Saturday that they believed government troops had seized communications towers in the Majevica hills and on Mount Vlasic. U.N. officials assessed the Bosnian Army's infantry has been hit heavily by the might of Serb artillery in the Majevica region. Nationalist Bosnian Serbs unleashed a series of brief but coordinated artillery attacks against civilians in government controlled towns on Saturday. At least seven civilians were seriously injured in an 11-minute nationalist Serb bombardment of the town of Gorazde in eastern Bosnia. Serb artillery also hit government controlled section of east Mostar. Bosnian Vice-President Ejup Ganic made the following comment on an offer for talks by the nationalist Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic: ``There's nothing to talk about unless he (Karadzic) accepts the peace plan of the Contact Group which is not good for us, but it's the best there is.' ``The mobilisation of all subjects of the Republic is ordered with the goal of breaking the enemy offensive on Republika Srpska (the nationalist Bosnian Serb self-proclaimed entity) and victory over the enemy,'' SRNA - nationalist Serb agency stated. The agency said that the Republika Srpska must mobilise its ``entire human and material potential...with the goal of the defence of the country.'' A similar Serb mobilisation order was issued after government troops made substantial gains around the northwestern enclave of Bihac in October. Sunday's announcement was unusual in that Karadzic ordered the mobilisation of the entire population, not just fighting-age males as he has previously done. Belgrade analysts assess there are approximately 80,000 men in the so-called Bosnian Serb army. Bosnian Vice President Ejup Ganic commented recently that Karadzic ``still has a lot of artillery and he can hurt us from a distance, but his infantry is not what it used to be against ours.'' 95-03-26--------------------------------------------------------- ------------------ ``The news this morning that two small children have been killed by a New Zealand-driven armed personnel carrier is most tragic,'' acting Prime Minister Don McKinnon said in a statement. ``On behalf of the government and people of New Zealand I extend my deepest sympathies to the families of the children.'' The incident, which happened in the Bosnian town of Vitez on Sunday, was being investigated. 95-03-26--------------------------------------------------------- ------------------ According to the Paris-based Women's Alliance for Democracy, women from all over the world headed for the besieged enclave of Bihac in northwest Bosnia on Saturday in an aid convoy of 25 trucks. Bihac has been besieged by separatist Croatian and Bosnian Serbs as well as rebel Moslems since June 1992. Women around the globe contributed food, funds and trucks and women from Australia, Austria, Canada, Croatia, France, Germany, Italy, Slovenia and Switzerland joined it. 95-03-25--------------------------------------------------------- -------------------- ``It seems that we will finally push the Serbs out of our territories ... They are nothing but cowards,'' said Bahrija Berberovic, 56, who grilled a chicken and baked pies Sunday for the 2nd corps of Bosnian Army soldiers in Tuzla. Bosnian Army officers indicated both sides were regrouping Sunday for what could be a decisive battle for the strategic Stolice communications tower east of Tuzla. ``We are in the final phase now,'' said Tuzla's deputy mayor, Sead Avdic. City authorities donated blood for use by wounded soldiers. Army officers said Serb positions on Stolice have been almost surrounded. Bosnian soldiers coming back to Tuzla for a day off asserted that the communications tower would fall within a few days at most. ``This has been a good operation,'' said a government soldier who gave only his first name, Avdo. ``We have captured a lot of territories with a minimum of casualties.'' Bosnian Army reported its casualties at nine killed and about 20 wounded, although nationalist Serb reports contend government losses have been far higher. Nationalist Serbs lack manpower, as in some cases they ferry a single artillery crew between two different gun positions by car or helicopter. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ------- In a letter to President Clinton, Russian President Boris Yeltsin and the leaders of France, Britain and the United Nations on Sunday, nationalist Bosnian Serb, and alleged war criminal Radovan Karadzic urged international pressure on the Bosnian government to stop the fighting. He issued a call for ``immediate direct talks on peace, even cessation of all offensives''. The letter also stated ``... the Serbs will have to defend themselves by all available means and for as long as necessary... We have to tell you that we shall never accept a humiliating solution, or defeat, even if we have to fight for decades.'' Bosnian Army Gen. Mustafa Hajrulahovic said the B&H government hoped its strong military showing might persuade Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic to shelve his plans for a ``Greater Serbia'' and officially recognize Bosnia-Herzegovina. Kemal Muftic, an adviser to Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic, said: ``There is no diplomacy without force,'' he said. The Sarajevo newspaper Oslobodjenje said that meeting between Serbian President Milosevic and Bosnian gov't representative Filipovic was ``a message from Milosevic to Karadzic that his patience is running out and that he might negotiate Bosnia's division with other partners.'' ----------------------------------------------------------------- ------------ DATE=3/27/95 NUMBER=2-176102 BYLINE= WAYNE COREY INTRO: THE BOSNIAN SERBS HAVE SHELLED SARAJEVO IN WHAT IS BELIEVED TO BE FURTHER RETALIATION FOR A NEW GOVERNMENT OFFENSIVE IN NORTHERN AND CENTRAL BOSNIA. THE SERB LEADER IS ALSO CALLING ON THE UNITED NATIONS AND THE MAJOR POWERS TO COMPEL THE BOSNIAN ARMY TO STOP THE OFFENSIVE. V-O-A'S WAYNE COREY REPORTS FROM OUR CENTRAL EUROPEAN BUREAU IN VIENNA. TEXT: THE UNITED NATIONS COMMAND IN SARAJEVO SAYS SERB ARTILLERY SHELLED THE BOSNIAN CAPITAL IN VIOLATION OF THE NATO-BACKED HEAVY WEAPONS EXCLUSION ZONE AROUND THE CITY. THE SERBS ALSO FIRED AGAIN ON VEHICLES TRYING TO USE A ROAD BETWEEN SARAJEVO AND A MAINLY MUSLIM SUBURB. A TRUCK IS SAID TO HAVE BEEN HIT. SERB GUNNERS HAVE INCREASED THEIR SHELLING OF GOVERNMENT-HELD TOWNS IN APPARENT RETALIATION FOR THE BOSNIAN ARMY OFFENSIVE, LAUNCHED A WEEK AGO. GOVERNMENT TROOPS HAVE CLEARLY MADE SOME GAINS IN FIGHTING NEAR THE TOWNS OF TUZLA AND TRAVNIK. ABOUT FOUR THOUSAND SERBS HAVE FLED FROM THEIR HOMES IN MOUNTAIN VILLAGES. SERB LEADER RADOVAN KARADZIC IS ASKING THE UNITED NATIONS AND THE MAJOR POWERS TO COMPEL THE BOSNIAN ARMY TO RETURN TO THE POSITIONS IT HELD BEFORE THE OFFENSIVE. MR. KARADZIC EARLIER ORDERED A GENERAL MOBILIZATION OF THE BOSNIAN SERBS. THAT ORDER FOLLOWED WHAT HE SAID WAS A LAST CALL ON THE GOVERNMENT TO HOLD IMMEDIATE AND DIRECT PEACE TALKS. (SIGNED) NEB/WC/MH 27-Mar-95 5:56 AM EST (1056 UTC) =========================================================== TODAY'S ISSUES==> TOPIC: MILITARY & ARMS Ref: C3XL0265 Date: 03/28/95 From: STEVE SCHULTZ (Leader) Time: 05:04pm /\To: ALL (Read 4 times) Subj: BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA UPDATE Colum Murphy, senior spokesman for UNPROFOR, said yesterday that deliberate targeting of civilians in the "safe areas" would "meet a resolute response from us, including the use of air power." The statement comes after a weeklong operation by the Bosnian Government seized 35 square miles of territory as well as a communications tower in central Bosnia, with Bosnian Serb shelling in retaliation. COL Peter Lundberg, Royal Swedish Army, said yesterday that 25 Swedish troops have been trapped at two observation posts near Tuzla since the latest fighting began. German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel called on Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic to stop the offensive. The appeal carries some weight, since Germany is Bosnia's closest European ally. (Roger Cohen/N.Y.T.) ================================================ OMRI DAILY DIGEST No. 62, 28 March 1995 UN THREATENS SERBS WITH AIR STRIKES. Nasa Borba on 28 March quoted a UN spokesman as saying that attacks on UN-designated "safe areas" in Bosnia-Herzegovina may be met with air strikes. He was referring to Serbian shelling of Sarajevo, Bihac, Gorazde, and Tuzla but added that the UN would not intervene if the Serbs were being fired on by government forces. State-run Borba, meanwhile, says that "the [Bosnian] Serb army is on the counteroffensive" and claims high losses among government troops. But AFP notes that the government army is newly reorganized and has several mobile units composed of men driven from their homes in "ethnic cleansing." Morale and mobility are two key advantages the government troops have over the Serbs, but the mainly Muslim forces are careful not to challenge the Serbs head-on yet in areas of Serbian vital interest, such as the Posavina land corridor. -Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc. CROATIA HOLDS FIRM ON UNPROFOR. Vjesnki on 28 March reports that Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic has criticized UN SecretaryGeneral Boutros Boutros Ghali's proposal for a new international peacekeeping force in Croatia. He said the plan violates the spirit of the Copenhagen agreement between Zagreb and Washington. That accord specified that a new and smaller force would be created to monitor Croatia's external borders and that its patrolling of Croatian-Serbian front lines within the country would be secondary. Croatia also does not like the latest proposed name for the peacekeepers, namely United Nations Peace Force One, since it does not include the word "Croatia." The Serbs squashed a previous suggestion that the troops be called United Nations Forces in Croatia. According to the latest proposal, Force Two would be in Bosnia and Force Three in Macedonia. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc. ============================================= OMRI DAILY DIGEST No. 63, 29 March 1995 IZETBEGOVIC FIRM ON PRECONDITIONS FOR TALKS. International media on 28 March reported that Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic, addressing the congress of his Party of Democratic Action, reaffirmed "the two minimal conditions" necessary for him to agree to peace talks: Serbia's recognition of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Bosnian Serbs' acceptance of the Contact Group's peace plan. Meanwhile, Nasa Borba on 29 March writes that the Contact Group has decided there will be no more "solo trips" by its individual members to Belgrade. American and Russian diplomats in particular have repeatedly tried to woo Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic in recent weeks. The diplomats in Brussels agreed on the basic form of their next offer to Milosevic, namely that he recognize his neighbors, accept current peace plans, and allow effective monitoring of his border with the Bosnian Serbs before sanctions are suspended. He has repeatedly refused to budge until the sanctions are completely lifted, however. Moscow may in any event be preparing to offer him another "solo initiative" more to his liking, the independent Belgrade daily reports.-- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc. CONFUSION STILL SURROUNDS BOSNIAN FIGHTING. Both the Bosnian government and Serbian rebels continue to claim success in the current fighting amid heavy snowfall in central and northeastern Bosnia. Both also seem equally determined to prevent UN observers and the media from independently checking out those claims. The stakes are high: Nasa Borba on 29 March notes that 90% of Serbian communications travel via the transmitter on Mt. Vlasic near Travnik and via another one at Stolice, in the Majevica hills near Tuzla, to the northeast. The paper adds that controlling these television relay stations is more important than taking cities and that government control of them would open up vast reaches of the republic to Sarajevo television broadcasts. It also quotes UN observers as saying the government wants to test the combat readiness of the Serbs. Vecernji list on 28 March suggests that the Bosnian government has not lost sight of its ultimate strategic goals in the northeast, namely liberating the Semberija region and cutting the vital Posavina land corridor linking Serbia with its conquests in Bosnia and Croatia. Finally in Sarajevo, the UN-sponsored airlift on 29 March marks its 1,000th day. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc. CELEBRATIONS OF "SERBIAN NATIONAL DAY" IN KOSOVO. Serbian nationalists in Kosovo celebrated the sixth anniversary of the current Serbian Constitution on 28 March. Following protests in Kosovo in which 22 Albanians were killed by Serbian police in 1989, the Serbian legislature passed amendments to the republic's constitution effectively abrogating the autonomy of the Serbian regions of Kosovo and Vojvodina. The Albanian language-service of Deutsche Welle noted the same day that Albanian-language education was banned in elementary schools in recognition of the Serbian holiday. Meanwhile, Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic sent a greetings message to Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic saying that "the stability of Serbia guarantees the freedom of all Serbs," Nasa Borba reported on 29 March. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ------- B o s N e t - Mar. 29, 1995 ========================================== FRONTLINE, Bosnia and Herzegovina Swedish peacekeepers reported more than 300 artillery detonations in the first five hours of daylight Tuesday in the Majevica region. Bosnian Government forces say they have surrounded the Stolice relay station and hope to persuade its garrison to surrender the facility intact. "The nationalist Serbs have access to the tower now only through a little stream, but we are covering the route with fire," a Bosnian army source in Tuzla said. The relay provides telephone links between the parts of Bosnia held by nationalist Bosnian Serb around Banja Luka, thier headquarters in Pale and the outside world. Bosnian army sources said. "If we take them both, it will alter the military situation in the whole country," Bosnian army officer said. The UN sources said that fighting also continued on the Vlasic plateau. Vlasic and Stolice account for 90 per cent of nationalist Serb communications. Though the March 31 expiry of the mandate of 12,000 peacekeepers is close at hand, ceasefire lines in Croatia remained calm apart from one spot in the far southwest of the Serb-held Krajina enclave near the Adriatic seacoast, UN officials said. The village of Bracev Dolac was shelled on Monday from adjacent territory in Bosnia held by Croatian and Bosnian Croat forces. No casualties were reported. Government forces took the whole mountain TRAVNIK, Bosnia and Herzegovina, (Mar 26) In the last week the Bosnian government has all but completely sealed off the town of Travnik to UN troops and journalists. No Bosnian officials would comment on UN reports that a government assault has managed to capture Vlasic. But all the Bosnian army soldiers Reuters talked that their forces had won control over the whole mountain, including a strategic television tower on its eastern edge and a number of features to the west. "We took the whole mountain, not only the television tower," a Bosnian army military policeman said. If the mountain was taken it would give Bosnian army a commanding position from which to try to retake the nearby towns of Jajce, Donji Vakuf and Skender Vakuf, all of which had a pre-war Muslim and Croat majority. The UN in the area said it does not have any independent confirmation. One UN source said Croat troops were seen moving into the combat area but could not confirm they took part in fighting. In Travnik itself the streets were eerily quiet. The government says it fears that Serb shells will crash down on the Travnik in revenge for a successful assault. Two "minimal conditions" for resuming peace talks SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina (Mar 28) Speaking at a convention of SDA party in Sarajevo, Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic said on Monday the separatist Bosnian Serbs must accept a five-power peace plan and Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic should recognise Bosnia and Herzegovina "These are two minimal conditions if the international community wants peace negotations to be continued," he said. Meanwhile in London, diplomats from Britain, France, Germany, Russia and the US agreed at a six-hour meeting to keep up efforts to bring the warring parties to the negotiating table. Serbs From Sarajevo In Belgrade BELGRADE, Serbia (Mar 27) The seven-member delegation of Sarajevo's Serbs (human rights activists, doctors, architects and former Sarajevo mayor) made an plea on Monday for an end to the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Sarajevo Serbs were seeking to refute Belgrade press allegations that Serbs were persecuted by Moslems in government-held parts of the former Yugoslav republic. The Sarajevo Serbs describe their ethnic kin shooting at the capital as murderers. "We are completely indifferent as to who shoots at us in terms of nationality, religion or colour," delegation head Boro Bjelobrk said. "All those who shoot at us are murderers in our eyes." He said the Serbs in Sarajevo enjoyed the same rights as the Moslems and Croats and in some cases were exempt from military duty. During a five-day visit which began last Friday they have met leading opposition figures and local peace activists. Convoy still waits for permission MOSCENICA, Croatia (Mar 28) An international women's convoy, called "Bihac Hunger," with aid for the west Bosnian enclave of Bihac spent a third night on the edge of Croat-controlled territory after rebel Serbs blocked further passage. The convoy halted when rebel Serbs said it could not proceed through their territory although part of the convoy was intended for local Serb hospitals. Convoy, financed by women's non-governmental organisations worldwide, was set up after reports that over 80 percent of newborn babies in Bihac die of cold and hunger because of bad hospital conditions. The 30-vehicles convoy, including eight ambulances and a makeshift hospital, carries medicine for new-born infants and women. A UN relief agency has described the situation in the enclave as "critical" and warned the elderly and refugees would start dying of hunger unless regular food supplies were restored. Women from the "Bihac Hunger" convoy come from Britain, Germany, France, the United States, Italy, Slovenia and Bosnia, and some drove the trucks themselves. WHO: Medical Disaster Unfolding In Srebrenica SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina (Mar 28) "The World Health Organisation is deeply concerned that there is a medical disaster unfolding in Srebrenica," Stephanie Simmonds, WHO's director for the former Yugoslavia, told reporters in Sarajevo. "We have been unable to get medical supplies into Srebrenica on a regular basis since October." Medical conditions in Srebrenica had deteriorated to the point where some patients were submitting to surgery without anaesthetic, the UN recently reported. Simmonds called on the international community to pressure Bosnian Serb leaders to permit regular, unimpeded access for medical convoys. On Thursday a Norwegian UN medical team has received permission to evacuate 31 patients to Sarajevo. Bosnia Criticised UN Report UNITED NATIONS, New York (Mar 28) In a letter to the secretary-general, Bosnian deputy UN representative Ivan Misic said it was "unsatisfactory" that the report by Secretary-General Boutros-Ghali offered no proposals for reviewing the mandate of UN troops in Bosnia to make it tougher. Nor could Bosnia "acquiesce in the omission of our Republic's name from the title of the UN mission which is operating in our Republic," he said, echoing a complaint by Croatia that its name should appear in the title of the UN force on its territory. Misic complained that the secretary-general's report appeared to equate agreements between Bosnia and Croatia with those between Serbs paramilitary forces in Bosnia and Croatia. He also said it failed to acknowledge that Bosnia had accepted a peace plan drafted by a five-nation Contact Group while the Bosnians serbs had failed to do so. Same report was rejected by Croatia as the basis for a new mandate for UN peacekeeping forces on its territory. 900 Yugoslav Troops Have Crossed Danube River? ZAGREB, Croatia (Mar 28) Chris Gunness, spokesman for the UN Protection Force, said UNPROFOR was investigating a Croatian complaint that 900 Yugoslav troops had crossed the Danube river from Serbia into Croatia's Serb-held Eastern Slavonia region. Their presence could also be decisive in any clash with the Croatian army should talks to renew the UN peacekeeping mission in Croatia break down. UNPROFOR had no evidence of the border violation, he said. But last week, UN observers had spotted several military ferries crossing the Danube from Serbia to the Croatian side. Military equipment had also been seen moving across the river frontier from the Serb-held Baranja region to the north and re-entering at the East Slavonian town of Erdut to the south, UN Lieutenant-Colonel Gary Bauleke said. The UNPROFOR lodged a protest with Serb authorities. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ------- B o s N e t - Mar. 30, 1995 ========================================== Federation Agreement Endorsed By Parliament SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina (Mar 29) The Bosnian parliament on Wednesday endorsed the so-called Bonn agreement for realising a federation between Bosnia's Moslems and Croats. Federation vice-president Ejup Ganic told parliament that the Bonn agreement set out political responsibility for actions under the federal constitution, government, military and diplomatic corps. The parliament endorsed the Bonn agreement without opposition after Ganic said "it can only be better if we adopt it." However the practical significance of the agreement is debatable. Lingering distrust in many areas of the country remains an impediment to workable joint institutions, especially for the military, police and judiciary. 1000 Days Of Relief Flights SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina (Mar 29) Today is the 1,000th day that the UN has flown in relief to Sarajevo. Pilots from more than 20 nations have flown more than 150,000 tonnes of food, medical and other aid to the besieged Bosnian capital city since July, 1992. Karadzic: "We Will Use Force To Draw The Maps" PALE, Bosnia and Herzegovina, (Mar 29) Nationalist Serb leader Radovan Karadzic has said he will use force to determine "the face of the map" in Bosnia unless a political settlement to the war is reached quickly. He also said the nationalist Serbs would disregard threat of NATO air strikes made on Monday by the UN commander in Bosnia British General Rupert Smith. "If the UN calls in air strikes then we will... consider them hostile troops," he said. 26-Year-Old Serb Accused Of War Crimes SALZBURG, Austria, (Mar 29) A 26-year-old Serb, Dusko Cvjetkovic, accused of war crimes in Bosnia went on trial for the second time on Wednesday on the orders of Austria's Supreme Court. He is accused of murder, arson and genocide in the sacking of the Bosnian village of Kucice in July 1992 and the case came to court in October last year. The first hearing in Salzburg Regional Court was halted in December when the three judges on the bench refused to accept the verdict of the eight-member jury. The jury's decision was not made public and the Supreme Court ordered a new trial. Cvjetkovic, was arrested in May 1994 in Salzburg, where he had been living as a refugee, after he was recognised in the street by a Bosnian who alleged he was a killer. Iranian Delegation Visiting Croatia ZAGREB, Croatia (Mar 29) An Iranian delegation is visiting Croatia to inspect its arms production facilities, the state news agency HINA reported on Wednesday. The delegation planned to visit the Djuro Djakovic tank production plant in eastern Croatia, HINA quoted Iranian Ambassador Javad Asayesh Zarichi as saying. HINA said Croatian Defence Minister Gojko Susak held talks with the Iranian ambassador on the "military and political situation" in Croatia and Bosnia. =========================================== OMRI DAILY DIGEST No. 64, 30 March 1995 RUSSIANS COVER SERBIAN TROOPS AND TANKS MOVING INTO CROATIA. Newsday reports on 30 March that the Russian commander of UN forces in Serbianoccupied eastern Croatia told Belgian troops recently not to block a Serbian military convoy moving in from Serbia. The shipment involved at least 900 rump Yugoslav soldiers, up to 20 tanks, ground-to-ground rockets, and various other weapons. The paper says that "this was the largest movement of Yugoslav troops into the zone since they withdrew as part of a ceasefire negotiated in 1991." It also notes that the arrival of new M-84 and T-72 tanks tips the military balance in the area in the Serbs' favor. Croatia has protested the development as proof of the UN's inefficiency and of Belgrade's direct involvement in the conflict. -Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc. IZETBEGOVIC WARNS THAT MILOSEVIC STILL WANTS A GREATER SERBIA. Slobodna Dalmacija on 30 March quotes Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic as telling his mainly Muslim party's convention two days earlier that Serbian President Slobadan Milosevic has cut ties to Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic but that Milosevic remains close to the Bosnian Serb military establishment. He also noted that the Serbian president still aims at setting up a greater Serbia at the expense of Croatia and Bosnia. Meanwhile on the Bosnian battle fronts, the VOA says that heavy snowfalls have reduced fighting to sporadic levels, while Vjesnik reports that Serbian forces still control the key television transmitter in the Majevica hills northeast of Tuzla. Nasa Borba covers Karadzic's latest statements, in which he threatens to take Tuzla and Sarajevo if the government offensive continues. He also said he will consider UN forces hostile if the world body calls in NATO air strikes against his troops. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.