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7 Accused Muslim Soldiers Surrender to U.S. Troops
Accused of Murder, Surprise Surrender
Triggers Demonstration by 3,000
TUZLA, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Seven Muslim soldiers accused of murders in Serb territory surrendered to U.S. forces and talks were held Saturday to decide what to do with them. The U.S. military said in a statement the soldiers were turned over to Bosnian Serb police and were in custody. The armed men were detained Friday after U.S. soldiers saw them walking toward the northeast Bosnian town of Zvornik, on the Serb side of the demilitarized zone separating Bosnia’s former warring parties.

The Americans heard shooting and an explosion from the same direction, according to the statement. The men then surrendered to U.S. forces, who confiscated several pistols and hand grenades. They were then handed over to the United Nations-run international police, who turned them over to Bosnian Serb police in Zvornik.

The Yugoslav news agency Tanjug quoted Bosnian Serb police and military officials as saying the captured soldiers were suspected of killing four Serbs in the Srebrenica area to the south on May 2. The Bosnian Serb news agency SRNA said the seven admitted killing the four civilians and burying them in Krusev Do, 10 miles southwest of Srebrenica. It said Serb investigators went to the area Saturday.

U.S. military officials met this morning with Bosnian Serb and Muslim officials. International forces kept a close eye on how the captured soldiers were being treated, the Americans said. The incident showed the continuing tension in the demilitarized zone separating Bosnia’s former warring parties. It also demonstrated the confusion over jurisdiction along the former front lines, now patrolled by a NATO-led international force. SRNA said 3,000 Zvornik residents gathered to protest against the captured soldiers being turned over to international police.

Police Col. Dragan Vasic in Zvornik said that two of the soldiers were taken to the scene of their alleged crimes and the other five were being held in nearby Bijeljina. Serb forces that occupied portions of Bosnia during the 4½ years of war killed and harassed Muslims to drive them from eastern and northeastern Bosnia. The Dayton peace agreement set up the demilitarized zone and restored some captured territory to pre-war occupants.

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