Accuses NATO of Shooting at Serbs
In Returning Refugee Incident
BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (AP) — The Bosnian Serb military chief accused the NATO-led peace force Tuesday of siding with his enemies — a sign of serious Serb resistance to parts of the Dayton plan. Gen. Ratko Mladic’s comments coincided with a demand by thousands of Serbs in the northern city of Banja Luka to freeze relations with the peace force if they get no information about more than 2,000 missing relatives.
Mladic, been indicted on war-crimes charges, rarely appears in public. But he remains quite popular and influential among Bosnian Serbs. In a protest to NATO’s supreme commander for Europe, U.S. Gen. George Joulwan, and the head of the peace force for Bosnia, Adm. Leighton Smith, Mladic accused troops of hurting 12 Serbs at a protest Sunday near the central town of Doboj.
In two separate weekend incidents, soldiers from the NATO-led Implementation Force, known as IFOR, intervened in civilian clashes that broke out when Muslim refugees tried to visit their homes in Serb-held territory. In a protest letter obtained by The Associated Press, Mladic warned that the NATO-led troops could face “spontaneous retaliation by Serb civilians in case of further such incidents.”
Mladic, who along with Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic is being sought by an international war-crimes tribunal, recently has re-emerged in public, mainly to criticize the peacekeeping mission. He also accused the peace troops of leading the group of Muslims to the bridge southwest of Doboj where the confrontation took place Sunday, and of shooting at Serb civilians who came to prevent the refugees from passing. “This represents a serious violation of the peace mission and the principle of non-bias,” Mladic said.
Peace Force Dismisses Charges
In Sarajevo, spokesmen for the peace force said they had received Mladic’s letter but rejected the accusation of bias. “Any claim that IFOR is not even-handed can be proved wrong by our track record,” said Maj. Peter Bullock. “Indeed, we have gone out of the way to be even-handed.”Soldiers in the NATO-led force increasingly have had to defuse conflicts between refugees trying to return home and residents who want to stop them. Fighting and ethnic purges during 43 months of war in Bosnia forced more than 2.5 million people to leave their homes. About 8,000 people from 20 towns throughout Serb-held territory gathered Tuesday in Banja Luka to demand information on the fate of several thousand missing relatives. They called on their leaders to freeze contacts with the international community if they get no information, and to consider the elections.
On Monday, NATO officials accused Bosnia’s rival leaders of manipulating the plight of refugees for political ends. Smith, the head of the peace force, warned that such manipulation was “very dangerous.” At NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, top generals recommended Tuesday that the 60,000-strong peacekeeping troops in Bosnia be kept at their present level until elections scheduled for September. “It was felt that at the time of the elections we need all the troops we have now,” U.S. Gen. John Shalikashvili said.
Apr 23 · NATO: Refugees Used as Political Pawns
Apr 22 · Refugee Showdown near Doboj
Apr 20 · Violence Expected as Refugees Return Home
Apr 20 · In 9 of 10 Cases, Authorities Blocking Refugee Return
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia United Nations
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