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Time for the Bosnian Government to Begin Working with Neighbours By Amir Handzel Thursday, 13 June 1996 A counterpoint to . . . Death Sentence to Bosnia Behind the Dayton's Closed Doors By Musadik Borogovac, Bosnian Congress USA (Rehovot, Israel) -- Nothing is new with the Bosnian Muslim government and the lobbyists acting on its behalf -- they are still trying to advance what they perceive as the Bosnian Muslim cause through the American public and media. The writers from The Bosnian Action Coalition (We Need Your Help to Lobby Washington) and the Bosnian Congress USA decry the blocking of return of (Muslim) refugees to the Serb Republic (Republica Srpska), yet they seem to "forget" that the government in Sarajevo is doing EXACTLY the same thing. If they would bother to read the contribution by Andras Riedlmayer (Silent Ethnic Cleansing in Sarajevo), it could remind them that Serb property in Sarajevo has been confiscated by the Muslim government to prevent the return of its Serb owners. For each of the three sides in Bosnia, the top priority is to solve the problems of the refugees on their side. Unless they all start serious direct negotiations on a comprehensive agreement regarding the return of refugees, there will be no change in current practices. Falling back upon a few vague items in the Dayton accord is not an alternative. It seems, however, that the Muslim government prefers to lobby in Washington and send cries for help in the media. With all his sensational rhetoric, the double standard of Musadik Borogovac remains transparent: "one formally armed criminal separatist movement succeeded in destroying a legal UN member state" ...is the most precise description of what Tudjman of Croatia and Izetbegovic of Bosnia did to Yugoslavia. The only difference is that Tudjman had the strong backing of Germany -- later joined by the US -- and enough material resources to turn his dream of secession into reality, while Izetbegovic failed to see that the Bosnian Croats and Serbs had no intentions of remaining under his forced rule and that his ground was shaky at best. After NATO handed over to the Muslim government 20 percent of the territory of Bosnia -- literally as a present -- Borogovac is audacious enough to complain that IFOR does not behave as if Izetbegovic were Supreme Allied Commander of NATO. Stop complaining, Mr Borogovac, and urge the government in Sarajevo to start talking and working with its neighbours.

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