----------------------------------------------------------------- ----- B o s N e w s - Feb. 06, 1995 ========================================= Binding arbitration set up between Bosno-Croats In Germany, Bosnian Croats and Bosnian Gov't agreed to binding arbitration to decide how to smooth over growing differences in their federation. Assistant U.S. Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke said Washington was pleased with the new accord, which calls for an arbitrator to be appointed by mutual agreement. However, the agreement does not specify any way of enforcing the arbitrator's decisions. Americans on the island of Brac A U.S. military team of 20 has set up operations on the island of Brac in the Adriatic Sea, to gather intelligence on neighboring Bosnia-Herzegovina. They are accompanied by plainclothes Croatian guardsmen, mainly keep to themselves, departing each morning by bus to an undisclosed location. Nearby small airport is blockaded by Croatian military police and armed guards turn back the curious. The mission is named "Lofty View." It's "an operation to map and survey primary and secondary lines of communication in Bosnia-Herzegovina," said Cmdr. Ron Morse, a spokesman for the U.S. European Command in Stuttgart, Germany. The U.S. trade journal Aviation Week & Space Technology reported the CIA was launchingmanned and unmanned reconnaissance aircraft from Brac. A private U.S. consultant, Military Professional Resources Inc., has been contracted to help train Croatia's army, according to the US State Department. Nationalist Serb and Croat reps meet Some analysts speculate that Croatian President Franjo Tudjman and Serbia's Milosevic have found common ground for their nationalistic goals. Allegedly Milosevic would give up some Serb claims in Croatia and Bosnia in exchange for a division of Bosnia between Serbia and Croatia. Tudjman would relinquish claims on part of Serb-held Croatia Serbia in exchange for Milosevic's recognition of independent Croatia. The biggest loser would be Bosnian gov't. "We are reaching the crucial phase of the ex-Yugoslavia crisis... It seems like a race against time. Come spring, everything might be too late." said independent Belgrade political analyst Djordje Stanisic. "All Serbs should prepare for the final battle," nationalist Bosnian Serb general Slavko Lisica told local media. "The big war is coming." Settling Kosovo Serbia is offering a series of incentives to persuade refugees from the war in Bosnia to resettle in the predominately Albanian province of Kosovo, including a new housing project, housing subsidies, farm land and other benefits. Albanians currently make up 90 percent of the population, while Serbs continue to migrate from Kosovo, driven out by a battered state-run economy and a tense political conflict. "They told us they wanted to move Serbs to Kosovo. They made us big promises," said Jokic, a Serb from the town of Vlasenica in northeast Bosnia. Bosnian Serb-Croat Military Talks U.N. officials said on Saturday nationalist Bosnian Serb commanders have held direct talks with Bosnian Croat officers. The U.N. claimed this to be a ``a major breakthrough'' in ceasefire discussions held on Friday between Serb and Croat army officers. Bosnian Army officers were absent. Bosnian Croat Defence Council (HVO) generals agreed with nationalist Bosnian Serb military leaders in a meeting in the central town of Gornji Vakuf on mapping confrontation lines between Kupres in central Bosnia. According to a statement released by the United Nations Protection Force. The meeting was ``conducted in a positive and constructive manner,'' said the U.N. statement issued from Gornji Vakuf. The Bosnian army officers boycotted the regional ceasefire commission talks because they object to the presence of Serb liason officers on territory under their control, accusing the U.N. of failing to properly consult them about the issue. ``The HVO and the BSA might be looking at ways to reach a separate deal,'' said on U.N. source. Gen. Delic about the readiness of Bosnian Army etc. ``Many people expected that, after the ceasefire was signed, the army of Bosnia-Herzegovina would become passive. Probably the aggressor (Serbs) expected the same and that is one of the reasons the aggressor signed the agreement,'' General Rasim Delic, chief of the Bosnian Army. ``We are taking measures for further improvement and strengthening of the army with one goal, which is if there is no solution in these four months, now three months of the ceasefire, then the army will make one on the battlefield,'' Delic said. Lieutenant-Colonel Gary Coward, a United Nations peacekeeping spokesman in Sarajevo, said last week the U.N. had noted significant military activity in central Bosnia in recent weeks as the government army reorganised. Source Reuter 95-02-05 =============================================== TODAY'S ISSUES==> TOPIC: MILITARY & ARMS Ref: C2AN1350 Date: 02/06/95 From: STEVE SCHULTZ (Leader) Time: 07:22pm /\To: ALL (Read 4 times) Subj: BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA UPDATE Bosnian Croat and Muslim leaders reaffirmed their federation yesterday, and agreed to submit any disputes to an arbitrator. At a meeting in Munich, Germany, arranged by U.S. Assistant Sectretary of State Richard C. Holbrooke in the midst of a security conference also attended by Secretary of Defense William J. Perry, the two agreed on a nine-point plan for the federation's implementation, moving beyond an agreement that largely exists on paper. The two also agreed to accept help from constitutional experts and a retired U.S. Army officer. A standing commission will be formed in Sarajevo to monitor developments. Pery also met with Croatian Government Defense Minister Gojko Susak, and discussions of Croatia's plan to expel U.N. peacekeepers was held. Just before dusk Friday, 15 Serbian helicopters, appearantly on a re-supply mission, crossed from Serbia into Bosnia. Dutch observers saw the helicopters fly west from Serbia, while based near Srebrenica. It occurred at the same time U.N. observers were barred from access to Serbian airfields near the border and from radar equipment there. Although other helicopter flights have been seen, this is the first time that this many were seen in formation. The flight suggests that the Yugoslav Army is still heaviliy involved in the Bosnian war, that Serbain President Slobodan Milosevic is still providing assistance even though he has said he has stopped, and that N.A.T.O. "no-fly zone" enforcement remains less than complete. (Roger Cohen and Craig R. Whitney/N.Y.T.) ========================================== OMRI DAILY DIGEST No. 27, 7 February 1995 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN BRUSSELS AND WASHINGTON OVER YUGOSLAV SUMMIT. Nasa Borba reports on 7 February that EU foreign ministers the previous day agreed in Brussels to endorse the French proposal for yet another major international gathering to deal with the ongoing crisis in the former Yugoslavia. Guests would include Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, his Croatian counterpart, Franjo Tudjman, and Bosnia's Alija Izetbegovic. Politika writes that Izetbegovic would be invited only in his capacity as leader of the Bosnian Muslims, however, not as the president of an internationally recognized state. The pro-Milosevic daily also notes approvingly that one of the goals of the meeting, which would aim at no less than a global solution to the former Yugoslavia's problems, would be to deepen the isolation of Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic. Reuters reports, however, that US Secretary of State Warren Christopher continues to be skeptical about such a gathering. He warns against having too great expectations and stresses that such a meeting must be very carefully prepared. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc. OTHER NEWS FROM THE YUGOSLAV WAR ZONE. The BBC's Croatian Service on 7 February quoted US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke as saying that further talks with the Bosnian Serbs are pointless unless they first accept the current peace plan. Holbrooke is regarded as the architect of recent US policy stressing the need for direct contacts with Karadzic's headquarters at Pale. Meanwhile in Belgrade, Politika deals with official Serbia's response to Dutch UNPROFOR reports from 3 February that up to 20 helicopters have flown missions from Serbia to eastern Bosnia. The daily quotes the rump Yugoslav General Staff as denying that it has any military presence beyond its own borders. Finally, from the Croatian battle front, Vjensik quotes UNPROFOR sources as saying that 5 February witnessed a record number of violations--168 in all--of the cease-fire agreement between Croatia and its rebel Serbs.-- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc. CROATIAN AGRARIAN LEADER DIES. Croatian Radio on 6 February announced the death the previous day following a long illness of Drago Stipac (74), the leader of the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS). Amid the collapse of communism, Stipac was instrumental in reviving the HSS, which was the most important political party in Croatia between the two world wars. He never achieved his dream of returning the HSS to the center stage of political life, but it did acquire a strong following in some rural areas and plays a role in local and regional government there. Stipac and his party were also prominent on the fragmented political opposition scene. A lifelong supporter of the HSS who was jailed by both the fascists and the communists for his beliefs, Stipac was also a past president of the Croatian Society of Political Prisoners. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc. PRESS CAMPAIGN FOR SERBIAN COLONIZATION OF KOSOVO. The Serbian government-controlled daily Borba has launched a media campaign to support a government program offering potential Serbian settlers interest-free credits to build houses in Kosovo. The paper carried two articles on 7 February calling for more Serbian settlements in Kosovo. One article reported about an economist from Pristina who wrote a letter to Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic offering to exchange his house in Serbia proper for one in Kosovo and to move back. The other, headlined "Kosovo Is Serbian," dealt with Radmilo Bogdanovic, president of the Serbian parliament Security Committee and a former interior minister. Bogdanovic has tried to convince Serbs to settle in Kosovo, saying that "the situation of public order, peace, and personal security in Kosmet (Kosovo-Metohija) is not always satisfactory . . . but it is safer, for example, than in Belgrade or Kragujevac." Independent Nasa Borba on 7 February raises doubts about the program, arguing that it does not make sense to settle people to a region that already is densely populated and where most industry has stopped working. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc. RUSSIAN DELEGATION VISITS RUMP YUGOSLAVIA. A Russian delegation headed by Deputy Premier Oleg Davydov visited the rump Yugoslavia on 6 February, state-controlled Borba reported the next day. Davydov met with Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic and the prime ministers of Serbia and Montenegro to discuss economic relations between rump Yugoslavia and Russia and the international sanctions against Belgrade. The delegation supported the idea of lifting the sanctions, observing that the international community's hesitation to do so "imperils peace and security on the wider European scene." -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc. ---- The OMRI Daily Digest offers the latest news from the former Soviet Union and East-Central and Southeastern Europe. It is published Monday through Friday by the Open Media Research Institute. The Daily Digest is distributed electronically via the OMRI-L list. To subscribe, send "SUBSCRIBE OMRI-L YourFirstName YourLastName" (without the quotation marks and inserting your name where shown) to LISTSERV@UBVM.CC.BUFFALO.EDU No subject line or other text should be included. The publication can also be obtained for a fee in printed form by fax and postal mail. Please direct inquiries to: Editor, Daily Digest, OMRI, Na Strzi 63, 14062 Prague 4, Czech Republic or send e-mail to: omripub@omri.cz Telephone: (42 2) 6114 2114 Fax: (42 2) 426 396 ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----- B o s N e w s - Feb. 08, 1995 ========================================= In NW Bosnia-Herzegovina, the anti-government leader, Fikret Abdic, is demanding 50% all aid shipments to Bihac, while U.N. has given 20% for his 30,000 supporters. ``The food situation in Bihac is critical... At the moment, only the hospital and cases of utmost priority are being given food.''said Alemka Lisinski, UNHCR representative. About 100 people protested outside the U.N.offices in Bihac on Monday. ``Some of them said they haven't eaten for days,'' Lisinski said. The top U.N. official for former Yugoslavia, Yasushi Akashi, toured central Bosnia and proposed renewal of the four-month truce, due to expire on May 1: ``That would give time and opportunity ... to deepen your cooperation and bring more international assistance.'' The first civilian traffic for seven months crossed Sarajevo airport on Monday. According to the U.N. sources 22 Serb cars drove from Ilidza to Lukavica, two suburbs controlled by nationalist Bosnian Serbs. ``It's a promising step forward,'' U.N. spokesman Gary Coward said. Opening the Ilidza to Lukavica route means the Serbs could make a journey in 30 minutes which has previously taken all day. Sarajevo police chief Enes Bezdrop the Bosnian Serbs also agreed to let civilian buses run between Sarajevo and Visoko, northwest of the city, from Tuesday. Source Reuter 95-02-06 --- BosNews and BosNet-B are computer mailing lists/forums run by volunteers. Its goals are to present and distribute information relevant to the events affecting various aspects of life in/about the Republic of Bosnia-Hercegovina. BosNews/BosNet-B materials are distributed free of charge to the subscribers for educational, informative, research and/or participative purposes. The source of the original article is indicated and proper credit given, when and where applicable. Original materials such as research studies, opinions, and similar periodically published on BosNews/BosNet-B (ONASA - Oslobodjenje Sarajevo News Agency newswire, for example), should also contain the appropriate credit and source when further distributed. Opinions expressed/published on BosNews/BosNet-B do NOT necessarily always reflect the views of (all of the members of) Editorial Board, and/or moderators, nor any of their host institutions. Zeljko Bodulovic Davor Wagner Nermin Zukic ===================================================== TODAY'S ISSUES==> TOPIC: MILITARY & ARMS Ref: C2BQ3115 Date: 02/07/95 From: STEVE SCHULTZ (Leader) Time: 09:51pm \/To: ALL (Read 13 times) Subj: BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA UPDATE A road out of Sarajevo opened yesterday for the first time in seven months, as did a road linking two Serbian suberbs. Hundreds used the road to shop for less expensive and more plentiful goods in the suberbs or visit relatives, but further travel was restricted unless people had proper paperwork. One route lets Serbs move between two suberbs, and the other crosses the airport into two Bosnian Government held suberbs and leads into central Bosnia and out of the country. Since they intersect, Serbs and Muslims used them in alternating two hour periods during daylight only. A third route, to the northwest through Vogosca, was to open today. 580 shells landed around Velika Kladusa in the 24 hours that ended Monday morning. Fighting as since decreased. (A.P./N.Y.T.) ============================================= OMRI DAILY DIGEST No. 28, 8 February 1995 UN REPORTS 62 HELICOPTER FLIGHTS FROM SERBIA INTO BOSNIA. The New York Times on 8 February quotes UN spokesmen as saying that during the first four days of the month, 62 helicopter sorties took place apparently from bases in Serbia to Srebrenica, in eastern Bosnia, where Bosnian Serbs have stepped up attacks in recent weeks. Some of the helicopters were reported to have flown "in military formation." The U.S. is demanding a UN investigation and wants to know why UN monitors were denied access to Serbian airfields at Surcin and elsewhere during that time. If it can be proved that the flights indeed came from Serbia, economic sanctions could automatically be reimposed on that country. Meanwhile, Vjesnik reports UN sources in Croatia as saying the number of flights of airplanes and helicopters from the Krajina Serb base at Udbina is increasing. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc. YET ANOTHER CHANGE IN U.S. BOSNIAN POLICY. The Clinton administration has apparently done another flip-flop on Bosnia, The New York Times reports on 8 February. During December and January, Washington cultivated direct contacts with the Bosnian Serbs at Pale and Assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke was said to be the "architect" of that policy. But after failing to persuade Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic to cooperate in reaching a settlement, Holbrooke is now quoted as saying that "there is no point in shuttling up the hill from Sarajevo to Pale to listen to the kind of crap which is dished out by Karadzic."-- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc. MILOSEVIC REFUSES TO RECOGNIZE CROATIA AND BOSNIA. AFP reported on 7 February that Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic has rejected French and EU calls for a Yugoslav-area summit, calling it "a waste of precious time." He also ruled out Belgrade's recognition of Croatia and Bosnia, saying such a move "would prejudge fundamental solutions," Tanjug reported. Reuters quoted rump Yugoslav Foreign Minister Vladislav Jovanovic as saying that such recognition was "out of the question." Croatian and Bosnian officials have long called for Serbia to recognize them in their internationally valid frontiers as proof that Belgrade has given up on plans to carve out a Greater Serbia at its neighbors' expense. Hina cites Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic as noting that President Franjo Tudjman would attend a summit "provided the meeting is organized and thoroughly prepared." He also pointed out the connection between holding a summit and the participants' recognition of one another's frontiers. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc. BELGRADE, MOSCOW SIGN TRADE ACCORD. Tanjug on 7 February reported that Russian Deputy Premier Oleg Davydov and rump Yugoslav authorities signed a bilateral trade accord paving the way for Russian deliveries of kerosene and gas to the rump Yugoslavia until 2010. Davydov was on an official visit to the Serbian capital. Reuters quotes him as saying Russia will deliver kerosene even if the UN Sanctions Committee, monitoring the international embargo against Belgrade, were to signal its disapproval. "Should the UN Sanctions Committee fail to accept our decision, the only way out for us would be to leave the committee, or find a way of carrying out those deliveries," he commented. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc. ============================================== TODAY'S ISSUES==> TOPIC: MILITARY & ARMS Ref: C2CL1712 Date: 02/08/95 From: STEVE SCHULTZ (Leader) Time: 05:28pm \/To: ALL (Read 5 times) Subj: BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA UPDATE U.N. Undersecretary General Chinmaya Gharekhan told the U.N. Security Council yesterday that ground observers had seen 62 helicopters from last Wednesday to Saturday north of Srebrenica. The Serbian helicopters are believed to have come from airfields near Surcin, but it was not possible to establish the point of take-off since U.N. obsevers were barred from radar sites near the area last week by Serbian forces. The U.S. has announced that it is ending official contacts with the Bosnian Serbs political leader, Radovan Karadzic, and is associates after their continuing refusal to accept a peace proposal. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard C. Holbrooke said Monday "there is no point" in shuttling up the hill from Sarajevo to Pale [where Bosnian Serbs have their headquarters] to listen to the kind of crap which is dished out by Karadzic." (Barbara Crossette/N.Y.T.) ===================================================== TODAY'S ISSUES==> TOPIC: MILITARY & ARMS Ref: C2DR1786 Date: 02/09/95 From: STEVE SCHULTZ (Leader) Time: 10:29pm \/To: ALL (Read 12 times) Subj: BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA UPDATE After having been denied access to radar equipment at airfields by Serbian forces last week while 62 helicopters crossed the border, acess was restored on Sunday, but withdrawn again Monday. The U.N. has asked the chief monitor, Tauno Nieminen of Finland, to hold talks with Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) about the flights. (Barbara Crossette/N.Y.T.) ========================================= OMRI DAILY DIGEST No. 29, 9 February 1995 MORE ON SERBIAN MILITARY HELP FOR BOSNIAN SERBS. Newsday reports on 9 February that U.S. officials are continuing to show great concern over UN accounts of some 62 military helicopter flights from Serbia to Bosnian Serb forces at Srebrenica last week. The newspaper also notes that Bosnian Prime Minister Haris Silajdzic has charged that Serbia recently sent some 90 tanks and 8,000 "volunteers" to help its beleaguered allies. Newsday also reports on the French proposal for an international conference on the Yugoslav crisis, which has drawn mixed responses from around the globe. One French diplomat said in its defense: "If not this, what else can we propose?" Meanwhile, Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic is quoted in the Belgrade dailies as saying that his side will not be bound by any decisions of the conference if he is not invited. French officials deliberately left him off the guest list in a move to increase his isolation because of his continued refusal to accept the current peace plan. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc. SARAJEVO TO REOPEN RAILWAY LINKS. The BBC's Serbian Service reports on 9 February that railway transport has restarted in the Bosnian capital for the first time in almost three years. A German locomotive pulled two cars into the city the previous day, but plans are under way to reopen soon the key route running south to Mostar and on to Ploce on the Adriatic. Elsewhere, UN spokesmen reported alarm at what they said was an increase of fighting in the Bihac area. Agencies quoted them as calling troop movements of hundreds of Krajina Serbs "alarming." -Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc. SERBIAN AUTHORITIES CRACK DOWN ON STUDIO B. Nasa Borba on 9 February reports that the independent Belgrade-based Studio B, which has both radio and television broadcast facilities, may become the latest victim in the Serbian government's crackdown on the free media. The daily notes that the same pattern is evident as in other recent cases, including that of the independent daily Borba (reincorporated last month as Nasa Borba). The authorities on 8 February challenged Studio B's legal status or incorporation in what appears to be the first step in a takeover bid. Studio B director Dragan Kojadinovic remarked that his company may exist for no more than 20 days. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc. [As of 1200 CET] Compiled by Victor Gomez ----------------------------------------------------------------- ------- B o s N e w s - Feb. 9, 1995 ========================================== FRONTLINES, Bosnia and Herzegovina The truce halted fighting across most of Bosnia except for the northwest Bihac enclave where heavy shelling continued unabated, UN spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Gary Coward said. UN monitors in the enclave counted 630 artillery, mortar or tank rounds since Sunday evening, six times the daily average when no offensives are in motion. According to the Chairman of the Bosnian Town Council, Mr Kabiljagic, the humanitarian situation in the Bihac pocket is on the verge of a catastrophe. According to the latest statistics from Bihac hospital, 47 people have died in the last two months, most of these being children. The hospital is currently accommodating around 2,000 wounded and sick patients, with shortages of food and medicine. A UNHCR spokesperson in Sarajevo confirmed the grim situation in Bihac, adding that the town needs approximately two thousand tons of food per month. Bosnia -- Recognition -- Arms Embargo SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia would be willing to recognize Serbia and Montenegro in return for its recognition of Bosnia, Prime Minister Haris Silajdzic said Wednesday. Yugoslav Foreign Minister Vladislav Jovanovic said during a visit to Jerusalem that mutual recignition is out of the question. "We do not see any any reason for recognition until a political solution has been reached," he was quoted as saying. Leader of separatist Serbs Radovan Karadzic on Tuesday said he favored mutual recognition -- as long as the Serb ministates in Bosnia and Croatia also were recognized, a condition that Bosnia and Croatia reject. Haris Silajdzic also warned Croatia and Serbia not to ignore his government in peace negotiations. He added that "whoever tries to make an agreement at our expense should remember that nothing can be solved without this government now which is a military and political factor that cannot be ignored." The Bosnian premier urged the big powers to lift the UN arms embargo on the government army if the separtatist Serbs continue to rebuff appeals to back the peace deal. He also said that Bosnian government would only participate in a peace summit for the former Yugoslavia proposed by France if the conference reaffirmed support for the Big Power peace plan. Summit On "Former Yugoslavia" BRUSSELS, Belgium EU foreign ministers unanimously endorsed the French plan for a special summit on former Yugoslavia bringing together the leaders of Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia. In a joint statement they said that plan could pave the way for an "international conference to deal with all matters relating to the conflict in the former Yugoslavia." French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe told reporters at the end of a one-day meeting it was not yet decided where or when to hold the conference. The EU statement said the summit would be in line with the peace plan drawn up by the so-called Contact Group of the United States, France, Russia, Britain and Germany. USA Secretary of State Warren Christopher said that the "USA position has long been that a so-called summit meeting...could be useful but only if it's well-prepared and we've not changed that position." He also asserted Radovan Karadzic could not be allowed to attend a summit unless he accepted the so-called Contact Group plan. But Karadzic "could certainly attend and participate if he would agree to the Contact Group plan," Christopher added. Meantime in Washington the US Assistant Secretary of State, Richard Holbrook has announced that the US is not prepared to continue negotiations with Bosnian Serbs unless they accept the Contact Groups peace plan. Separatist Serb leader Radovan Karadzic said that the summit "could cause no harm but the question is what will its agenda be. They cannot discuss anything on our behalf, especially not Alija Izetbegovic." Meeting Granic -- Ljubijankic; Refugees ZAGREB, Croatia Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic and his Bosnian counterpart Irfan Ljubijankic met in Zagreb yesterday. Granic stated that the meeting was a continuation of the recent Munich talks which he described as a great step towards establishing the Bosnian Federation, the implementation of the Washington Accords and the forging of firm lines between the federation and Croatia. New rounds of talks are to be held in Zagreb next week. From the 1st of April Germany will begin returning Croatian refugees back to Croatia. Deputy Prime Minister Ivica Koslovic has expressed concern over this decision. Koslovic will travel to Germany on the 23rd of this month to discuss this matter with the parliamentary leaders of the three German states which are housing most of the Croatian refugees. Germany's decision however is conditional on the situation in the UNPAs improving. Kresimir Zubak Met Akashi MOSTAR, Bosnia and Herzegovina In Mostar yesterday evening, President of the Bosnian Federation, Kresimir Zubak met with UN Special Envoy Yashusi Akashi, on his official visit to the city. Both described the meeting as productive and successful. Akashi announced that all agreed that Mostar's problems cannot be solved outside the Bosnian Federation but only within the federation framework. Speaking of his visits to Gornji Vakuf, Zenica and Vitez, Akashi explained that he had noticed improved co-operation between Croats and Muslims and stated that it was imperative to keep improving relations between the two. UN warns On Use Of Air Force ZAGREB, Croatia The UN warned rebel Croatian Serbs on Tuesday that NATO would "inevitably" retaliate with air strikes if they used air power in fighting in the Bihac enclave of neighbouring Bosnia. Czech peacekeepers deployed around Udbiuna saw one Orao-type jet take off on Wednesday (1st of February) and Thursday and observed three Galebs taking off on Friday. Three Gazelle helicopters used the airfield on Saturday. NATO, which has the right to enforce the no-fly zone over Bosnia without prior approval from UN headquarters, said it could not confirm the UN reports. The UN military spokesman in Zagreb, Lieutenant-Colonel Walt Natynczyk said about 600 Croatian Serb soldiers from the breakaway republic of Krajina were spotted moving into combat zones in the north of Bihac in the last week of January. UN Denied Access To Radar In Serbia UNITED NATIONS UN spokesman Joe Sills said Wednesday Serbia denied UN officials access to border radar for four days last week -- the same period when peacekeepers said they spotted suspicious helicopter flights in Bosnia. UN Undersecretary-General Chinmaya Gharekhan said peacekeepers reported 62 helicopter flights near the Bosnian enclave of Srebrenica, between last Wednesday and Saturday. UN soldiers in Bosnia said they saw 15 to 20 Serbian government helicopters land outside Srebrenica last Friday, apparently to resupply Bosnian Serb troops. UN monitors remain blocked from using the radar, which scans the border area, Sills said. Separatist Serbs Want UN To Stay KNIN, Croatia A Croatian Serb assembly on Wednesday accepted its leaders' recommendation to suspend trade talks with Croatia until it changes its decision on the peacekeepers. The assembly also declared a state of "immediate war danger," giving leaders authority to order mobilization if necessary without the assembly's prior approval. In an effort to prevent war from spreading to Croatia, the UN Security Council urged Croatia Tuesday to reconsider its order for 12,000 UN peacekeepers to leave after their mandate expires March 31. Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic said the government won't reverse its decision on the peacekeepers. Rebel Serbs in Bosnia have pledged to support Croatia's Serbs in the event of renewed warfare. Croatian Serbs are actively helping their brethren across the border in the northwestern Bosnian region of Bihac. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ------- B o s N e t - Feb. 10, 1995 ========================================== Serbs end talks with Croatian government By Roger Cohen, c.1995 N.Y. Times News Service TRAVNIK, Bosnia-Herzegovina -- In another sign that a wider Balkan war could develop in the spring, the Serbs holding close to one-third of Croatia have cut off talks with the Croatian government, balked on parts of an economic accord, and formally placed themselves on "war alert." The decision, reached on Wednesday evening by the self-styled parliament of the Croatian Serbs, is intended to put pressure on Croatia's president, Franjo Tudjman, to reverse his decision to terminate the mission of the 12,000 U.N. peacekeepers in Croatia on March 31. Since the Croatian war of 1991 ended in a tenuous truce, U.N. troops have acted as a buffer between the Serbs and the Croatian government army. Annoyed by the failure of the peacekeeping troops to disarm the Serbs, and concerned that the U.N. mandate might simply freeze the current front line, Tudjman made the decision last month. An economic accord reached last year between Serbs and Croatia led to the opening of a stretch of highway through Serb-held territory and of an oil pipeline. But other steps relating to railroads and telecommunications have not yet been put into effect. Borislav Mikelic, the self-styled foreign minister of the Croatian Serbs, said on Thursday: "We decided it was now necessary to delay further implementation of the economic agreement until the United Nations Security Council extends the mandate in Croatia." As Mikelic knows, the problem with extending the troops' mandate lies not with the Security Council but with Croatia's government. The decision by the Serbs to cut off talks and freeze economic cooperation puts Tudjman in an awkward situation. If he retreats now from his position -- for example, by allowing a more limited number of U.N. troops to remain -- he will appear to have bowed to Serbian pressure. Gen. Ratko Mladic, formally the commander of the Bosnian Serbs but in practice the commander of all Serbs west of the Drina River, is a master of such pre-emptive decisions, which have tended to keep his opponents and the international community off-balance since the breakup of Yugoslavia. There have been signs recently -- including 62 helicopter sorties last week that almost certainly originated in Serbia -- that the Serbs are actively preparing for a possibly wider conflict in the spring. Three Bosnian Serb helicopters and two light aircraft took off on Thursday from the Serbian-held town of Banja Luka in Bosnia, U.N. officials said. The Bosnian and Croatian armies are also moving a lot of men and equipment in the current lull. Although the U.N. Security Council has appealed to Tudjman to reverse his decision, U.N. officials here believe a withdrawal from Croatia will probably have to begin next month. NATO would play a central role in a withdrawal, and its officials are due to meet with the Croatian government on Friday to discuss preparations, including the installation of secure telephone lines between Zagreb and Split, diplomats said. The withdrawal would almost certainly be messy because the Serbs would try to stop it, and U.N. hostages might be taken. Because most of the airfields and ports that the U.N. uses for its Yugoslav mission are in Croatia, its ability to operate in Bosnia would also be jeopardized by any withdrawal from Croatia. Many of the Serbian families now living in Croatia moved to the area t more than 300 years ago, installed there by the Austro-Hungarian Empire as a military buffer against the Ottoman Turks. Backed by the Yugoslav army, and mindful of Croatia's genocidal policies against the Serbs in the Nazi occupation of World War II, Croatia's Serbs went to war in 1991 to avoid becoming part of a new Croatian state whose government they saw as threatening. Transmitted: 95-02-10 00:48:36 EST ============================================= OMRI DAILY DIGEST No. 30, 10 February 1995 SERBS VIOLATE BOSNIAN CEASE-FIRE. The BBC's Serbian Service on 10 February reports major violations of the cease-fire the previous day by Bosnian Serb forces in Sarajevo and Krajina Serb units in the Bihac pocket. The UN, meanwhile, has complained again about Serbian authorities barring UN monitors from access to radar at Belgrade airport last week, when Serbian military helicopter flights to Bosnia were taking place. International media report that U.S. President Bill Clinton and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, meeting in Washington, called for strengthening the Croatian-Muslim federation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc. TURKISH LEGISLATORS WANT UNPROFOR TO HELP ENFORCE PEACE. Hina reports on 10 February that visiting Turkish deputies told their Croatian counterparts that UNPROFOR's mandate in both Croatia and Bosnia needs redefining. The Turks stressed that UNPROFOR should not be trying to keep a peace that does not really exist but rather to make peace. Meanwhile in Krajina, the Serbs announced they will respect agreements in force on reopening the Zagreb-Lipovac highway and the Adria pipeline but will suspend those not yet put into practice. The latter include projects to reopen the railway line through the zone known as Sector West and to restart the water supply for Pakrac. The Serbian authorities also refused some Croatian refugees permission to visit their homes in occupied areas, although some Serbs have been allowed to return to their houses in Novska and Nova Gradiska. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc. BALKAN DIPLOMATIC UPDATE. Nasa Borba reports from the Sandzak on 10 February that Rasim Ljajic, general secretary of the mainly Muslim Party for Democratic Action, has called for Serbia, Croatia, and Bosnia to recognize one another in their internationally valid frontiers. Zagreb and Sarajevo insist on such recognition as proof that Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic has abandoned his ambitions to create a Greater Serbia, but Belgrade refuses to do so. The same newspaper also quotes American media sources and an interview with the U.S. ambassador to Croatia in a Zagreb weekly as indicating that Washington has warned Croatia not to expect any U.S. support if it renews the war in Krajina. Finally, rump Yugoslav Foreign Minister Vladislav Jovanovic is reported to be in Athens to discuss the possible opening of a "diplomatic office" in Skopje and its potential effects on Greek-Serbian relations. -Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc. JOURNALISTS STRIKE IN SERBIA? Nasa Borba on 10 February reports that the editorial board of the journal Liberal has called for a journalists strike to protest Belgrade's recent attacks on Serbia's independent media. The board observes that the crackdown amounts to "the despotic regime of Slobodan Milosevic extinguishing the last free light in Serbia." -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ------- B o s N e w s - Feb. 10, 1995 ========================================== FRONTLINES, Bosnia and Herzegovina Fighting flared around the "UN protected" safe area of Bihac town in northwest Bosnia on Thursday and peacekeepers said most of the firing came from Serb positions. UN spokesman Paul Risley said on that "separatist Bosnian Serb forces launched a calculated and deliberate" infantry and artillery attack on the Bihac town on Thursday. UN observers counted 208 shells hitting the Vedro Polje and Klokot area, which the government forces took last month. Sarajevo radio, quoting Bihac defenders, reported a Serb artillery, tank and infantry attack on the town and said it was being hit by shellfire. Sources close to the separatist Serb Army denied that its forces had any part in the clashes. UN peacekeeping spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Gary Coward said the UN had sent military observers to find out what was happening but forces involved in the fighting routinely obstruct effort to monitor their activities. The separatist Serb Army encircling Sarajevo unleashed a brief but jarring mortar barrage on the capital in the worst breach yet of a ceasefire. UN military spokeswoman Captain Miriam Souchaki said eight mortar rounds exploded in an unmanned trench along the front-line that runs through Sarajevo's Jewish cemetery. Machinegun fire rattled out after the explosions boomed across the city as night fell, reporters said. There were no apparent casualties. The UN said it was sure that dozens of helicopter flights over Bosnia last week had originated in Serbia, raising fears that the separatist Serbs were resupplying for renewed warfare. The main UN aid agency decided to suspend its Friday airlift into Sarajevo following the abduction of one its local employees, an ethnic Serb, by government forces. The arrest of Svetlana Boskovic, 29, is an apparent response to the continued detention of Bosnian journalist Namik Berberovic who was snatched from a UN military vehicle by separatist Serb forces near the Sarajevo airport two weeks ago. Direct negotiation ?? PALE, Bosnia and Herzegovina Separatist Serb leader Radovan Karadzic on Thursday welcomed the Bosnian government's statement that it was prepared to negotiate on a final political settlement of the war in the ex-Yugoslav republic. Karadzic said he is not posing any preconditions for negotiations and that he is prepared to talk with the Bosnian government in the immediate future. Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic said on Tuesday he was prepared to hold peace talks with his Serb enemies to save civilians in his country from further suffering. The Bosnian government has refused to talk to the Serbs until they accepted an international peace plan dividing Bosnia into two almost equal entities. NATO -- Croatia-- Pullout Plan BRUSSELS, Belgium NATO's decision-making council agreed on Wednesday to sound out Croatia on how it could assist in any alliance-led pullout of United Nations peacekeepers from Bosnia and Croatia. Alliances sources said NATO military planners wanted to make progress on establishing the required communications network, but ruled out any despatch of NATO ground forces at this stage. Croatian help would be needed if NATO were to organise the withdrawal of UNPROFOR from Bosnia, but the issue is closely linked with a threatened withdrawal of UN "blue helmets" from Croatia. NATO sources again stressed final approval for the pullout plan, which could involve up to 45,000 troops, would not come for several more weeks. NATO Secretary-General Willy Claes told a Belgian newspaper in an interview published on Wednesday that, if the alliance were asked, it would be able to carry out the withdrawal in what would be the biggest military operation ever launched in peacetime Europe. Meanwhile German Defence Minister Volker Ruehe received a letter from NATO asking for "more precise details of our basic commitment made in December 1994 to provide German troops to secure any possible withdrawal of blue helmets from Bosnia and Herzegovina," government spokesman Dieter Vogel said. Last December Bonn agreed, in response to a NATO request, to provide up to 10 Tornado fighter-bombers, some equipped with radar-jamming equipment, to protect a pullout of peacekeepers. It also pledged electronic surveillance jets, transport planes, minesweepers and patrol boats and earmarked a field hospital and two mobile medical units. Up to 2,000 troops could be sent, but Bonn has said it will not send ground forces. Serbia and Russia -- Long-Term Gas Deal BELGRADE, Serbia Serbia and Russia signed an agreement in Belgrade on Tuesday to ensure long-term natural gas deliveries until 2010. The news agency Tanjug quoted Oleg Davydov, Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Economic Relations, as saying Moscow was also prepared to deliver aircraft fuel, even if it was in contravention of UN-imposed sanctions. Davydov, leading a delegation holding wide-ranging ranging talks in Belgrade, also said that Moscow wanted to discuss lifting all trade barriers with Serbia. "Today we had talks about the fact that the main thrust in our foreign trade cooperation ought to be the removal of all obstacles," Davydov said. "This can be achieved by completely liberating our trade, by creating a free trade zone between Russia and Yugoslavia." Davydov told Tanjug that Russia was ready to deliver kerosene to Yugoslavia and that it would find a way of doing so should the UN Sanctions Committee refuse permission. "Should the UN Sanctions Committee fail to accept our decision, the only way out for us would be to leave the committee, or to find a way of carrying out those deliveries", Tanjug quoted him as saying. Rebel Serbs go on war alert in Croatia SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina Rebel Croatian Serbs, deeply involved in fighting in northwest Bosnia, were on war alert on Thursday after their parliament froze further implementation of an economic accord and suspended political talks with Zagreb. The Croatian-Serb Krajina parliament voted on Wednesday to halt further steps towards rapprochement with Croatia and also voted a companion resolution to declare a war alert, one stage below a full-scale state of war. Krajina foreign minister Milan Babic said the republic would not cancel steps already made to implement the economic accord, including the reopening of Croatia's main cross-country highway and an oil pipeline which both pass through rebel-held terrain, unless Croatian government forces attacked. The president of the Krajina Serb Republic, Milan Martic, said the war alert did not mean his troops would go on a war footing. "We have unanimously decided to adopt a milder form of the state of war, that is, a state of war readiness," he said. Sarajevo's First Train SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina A truck fitted with train wheels hauling two green rail cars, carrying well-wishers and government officials, left the central station on a four mile round trip through northwestern suburbs of Sarajevo on Wednesday. Wednesday's train was a trial run a day before regular passenger services were scheduled to begin. The new line would serve areas currently cut off from the single tram line that is the only other form of public transport in the besieged city. It is planned to run from 7.30 a.m. to 4 p.m., carrying 2,500 to 3,000 passengers a day, but will only be able to run within the frontlines that surround the city. The last train left Sarajevo in May 1992, one month after the war erupted and the Serb siege of the city began. Outside Sarajevo, Bosnian authorities have revived rail service in government-held territory, with trains running from Tuzla, Zepce and in southwestern Bosnia between Pazaric and Jablanica. =================================================== TODAY'S ISSUES==> TOPIC: MILITARY & ARMS Ref: C2FK2639 Date: 02/11/95 From: STEVE SCHULTZ (Leader) Time: 04:43pm \/To: ALL (Read 2 times) Subj: BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA UPDATE Croatia said yesterday that it wanted N.A.T.O. to monitor its borders after U.N. peacekeepers leave. Bosnian Government and Bosnian Serb troops fought yesterday for control of water supplies to Bihac. Bosnian Government troops took control of Klokot on January 14 to secure a well that supplies Bihac. Bosnian Serbs blocked U.N. convoys yesterday in Sarajevo. The move was in retaliation for the detention of a Serbian relief worker who was accused of passing information to Bosnian Serbs. (Reuters/N.Y.T.) ----------------------------------------------------------------- ------- B o s N e w s - Feb. 11, 1995 ========================================== FRONTLINES, Bosnia and Herzegovina The fighting in the northwestern Bihac pocket was among the most serious violations of the truce that took effect Jan. 1. Government troops and separatist Bosnian Serbs were fighting over a plateau overlooking Bihac town, a UN-declared "safe area" where civilians are supposed to be under UN protection. UN officials said the Serbs might be trying to take control of the town's water supply system. Sarajevo was relatively quiet Friday, and UN officials said a route linking the capital with Visoko to the northwest was in use -- the second road between Sarajevo and other government-held territory to be reopened this month. The UN noted truce violations near Doboj and Lukavac in the north. UN observers also reported Serb violations of a UN-declared "no-fly zone" in the northwest -- the flight of three fixed-wing aircraft, capable of carrying missiles, from Banja Luka airport. Separatist Serbs Shut Down Aid Conwoys SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina Separatist Serbs shut down aid convoys out of Sarajevo on Friday. The decision to halt the aid convoys prompted the UN to suspend the aid airlift to Sarajevo as of Saturday, because of limited storage space at the airport. On Thursday, the government arrested an ethnic Serb, Svetlana Boskovic, working with the UNHCR. Kris Janowski, spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said Boskovic was accused of spying. The arrest appeared to have been provoked by the detention of a Muslim journalist by Bosnian Serbs on Jan. 26. The journalist, Namik Berberovic, is still being held. Tudjman Insists Peacekeepers Leave ZAGREB, Croatia President of Croatia Franjo Tudjman insisted Friday that UN peacekeepers will have to leave Croatia after their mandate expires on March 31. Speaking to reporters Friday, Tudjman said he would allow international observers along Croatia's borders if a political agreement is reached with the rebel Serbs. The observers would help ease the reintegration of Serb-held territory into Croatia proper, he said. He predicted there would be no outbreak of war once the peacekeepers withdraw. "There will be no war, but there might be isolated incidents," Tudjman said. Croatia made the move hoping it would "speed up the peace process in former Yugoslavia." Tudjman acknowledged that the attitude of Serbia's President Slobodan Milosevic was critical to getting the Croatian Serbs to accept peace. =================================================== TODAY'S ISSUES==> TOPIC: MILITARY & ARMS Ref: C2HN3007 Date: 02/13/95 From: STEVE SCHULTZ (Leader) Time: 07:50pm \/To: ALL (Read 3 times) Subj: BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA UPDATE About 1,500 rounds were fired in the Bihac area over the weekend. At least one man was killed in a Bosnian Serb shelling of Bihac. A Bosnian Serb assault on Bosanska Krupa began Saturday, and there were reports of as many as 1,000 Serbian soldiers crossing into Bosnia from Croatia. (Roger Cohen/N.Y.T.) ----------------------------------------------------------------- ------- B o s N e w s - Feb. 13, 1995 ========================================== FRONTLINES, Bosnia and Herzegovina (12 - 13 Feb) UN said fighting intensified Sunday in the Bihac pocket. A UN military spokesman Maj. Herve Gourmelon said the fighting stretches from Bihac town at the southwest of the pocket, where a three-day battle for control of the "safe area" is continuing, to the Serb-controlled town of Bosanska Krupa, 25 km to the northeast. Within the Bihac "safe area" separatist Serbs continued attacks with supporting artillery fire from the Krajina Serbs in Croatia to push the Bosnian 5th corp army away from the international border southwest of Bihac. Over 500 shells have fallen into the "safe-area" since late Saturday. UN said that at least one person, a 32-year-old man, was killed. Bosnian radio put the town's death toll at three. Bosnian television said Sunday that the separatist Serbs have been using helicopters as well as heavy artillery to bomb government positions just north of the town. Gourmelon says he cannot confirm the reports of helicopters. He added that more than 400 detonations have been counted north of the Una river where the separatist Serbs launched an unsuccessful infantry attack in an effort to push the Bosnian army north, away from Bosanska Krupa. An unnamed French aid agency managed to get four truckloads of humanitarian aid into the enclave. Two men are recovering from gunshot wounds Sunday after a sniper attack near downtown Sarajevo. A 16 jear old boy Dzemal Karovic was shot in the stomach and a older man, Mujo Klino, 43, was shot in the hand when he went to help him. The boy is reportedly in serious condition at the city's Kosevo Hospital, the elder man was treated and released. Separatist Bosnian Serbs said Government soldier shot a child in a Serb held suburb Cekrcici. The news agency SRNA later reported that a child had been seriously wounded by a small arms attack. No further details were available. UN officials also have filed a strong protest Sunday with the separatist Bosnian Serbs over the firing on of a British helicopter Saturday afternoon, approximately 100 km northwest of Sarajevo. The UN said the firing was ironic since the helicopter was transporting a Serb liason officer to Banja Luka. The UN also reported air activity on Friday over Bosnia in apparent violation of a NATO-enforced no-fly zone banning military flights by combatants. A Mi-8 helicopter was reported flying in the government- held Zenica area in central Bosnia UN said. UN military observers in the Serb-held area of Banja Luka reported three light aircraft and two Mi-8s violating the no-fly zone near Zaluzani. On Sunday, UN aid officials said the Sarajevo airlift will restart Monday. Silajdzic: Time For Peace Waning SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (12 Feb) Bosnia's Prime Minister Haris Silajdzic said Saturday his government's troops will return to war rather than extend the current cease-fire unless Serbs begin serious negotiations for peace. He said the UN should take action -- presumably by lifting an arms embargo on the Bosnian government -- if Serbs don't budge. Rebel Croatian Serbs Enter Bosnia SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina (12 Feb) The report of more than 1,000 Serbs fighters from Croatia came a day after Lt. Col. Gary Coward, a UN military spokesman, reported fighting raging across three fronts in northwest Bosnia: Bihac town, Velika Kladusa and Bosanska Krupa. The Croatian Serb soldiers crossed into the region in buses and trucks over the last 24 hours, said a UN official in Zagreb, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Bosnian Army General Jovan Divjak, renewed charges that separatist Serbs were receiving support from Serbia and even from Russia. In an interview with the Croatian daily Vecernji List, Divjak charged Serbs had assembled anti-aircraft guns from Russian parts, and that Russian mercenaries were fighting in Bosnia. UN tries to arrange a meeting SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina (13 Feb) The UN Bosnia commander, Lieutenant-General Rupert Smith, was trying to arrange a meeting on Monday with Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladic, a UN spokesmen in Sarajevo said. Smith met the commander of Bosnian government forces, General Rasim Delic, on Sunday to try to persuade him to attend talks on implementing the ceasefire. Smith wants to get on with talks between Delic and Mladic to cement the ceasefire, which is due to expire on May 1. A UN spokesman said Delic might reconsider his refusal to attend a Wednesday meeting with Serb commanders if Serb forces ceased their attacks on Bihac and allowed aid to enter the area. Karadzic: We will help Krajina Serbs BELGRADE, Serbia (12 Feb) Separatist Serb leader Radovan Karadzic was quoted on Sunday as saying his forces would unite with fellow Serbs in the breakaway Krajina region of Croatia if they were attacked after UN trooops left. He said that united armies will be the first "practical step towards the unification of the two Serb states." UN officers fear a UN withdrawal could ignite renewed battles in Croatia. They also noted that Krajina Serb forces were already closely cooperating with the Bosnian Serbs in fighting around the northwest Bosnian enclave of Bihac. "Parliament" set to resist Belgrade pressure BOSANSKI SAMAC, Bosnia and Herzegovina (13 Feb) The separatist Bosnian Serb "parliament" appears determined to fight pressure from Belgrade to accept an international peace plan when it meets on Monday in Bosanski Samac in northeast Bosnia and Herzegovina. Bosnian Serb sources said they believed a majority of deputies loyal to Radovan Karadzic would try either to force the seven mavericks (lead by Goran Dodik) back into the fold or to silence them during the closed-door session. Dodik, who has the support of Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, said he would push for the peace plan to be included on the agenda. The seven mavericks are said to have the tacit support of another 20 moderate "deputies." Jackovich hints at departure SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina (Feb 12) The USA ambassador to Bosnia, Victor Jackovich, in an interview in Oslobodjenje newspaper, has hinted he may soon leave his post. Western diplomats in Sarajevo and elsewhere say the State Department believed Jackovich had allowed his sympathies with Bosnia's government to colour his conduct. "They want him out," said one diplomatic source. "He's viewed as partisan." Jackovich denied that Washington's attitude to the conflict had changed and indicated USA policy would remain the same even with a new ambassador in Sarajevo. ============================================= OMRI DAILY DIGEST No. 31, 13 February 1995 UN CONDEMNS SERB FLIGHTS OVER BOSNIA. The BBC's Serbian and Croatian Services reported on 13 February that the UN ruled that all sides in the Bosnian conflict have broken flight restrictions in that embattled republic but that the Bosnian Serbs have been "especially active." The report noted daily flights from Serb airfields in Banja Luka and in Krajina in the past two weeks. The Bosnian Serb news agency SRNA quotes Radovan Karadzic as saying that if Croatia attacks the Krajina Serbs, his men will defend them, and that this would be the first practical step toward the unification of the two rebel Serb states. The latest UN report and the course of fighting around Bihac, however, help recall that the two groups have long been working hand-in-glove and in cooperation with authorities in Serbia proper. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc. BIHAC FIGHTING AT CENTER OF ATTENTION. International media report on 13 February that combat in the Bihac pocket intensified over most of the weekend and that Krajina Serb land reinforcements have arrived. The Bosnian government singled out the situation around Bihac as demanding immediate attention if the ceasefire that is largely holding elsewhere is to be maintained. UN commander Lieutenant-General Rupert Smith met on 12 February with his Bosnian government counterpart General Rasim Delic and now wants to see Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladic. The 13 February Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung notes fighting on three fronts: Bihac itself, Velika Kladusa, and Bosanska Krupa. Bosnian Prime Minister Haris Silajdzic, for his part, already seems to have soured on the ceasefire, saying it should not be extended when it expires on 1 May. He charged that an extension "would serve the purpose of our enemies, and that is to keep the status quo here forever." -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc. A SHAKY FUTURE FOR BOSNIAN CROATS. Among the worst victims of the CroatMuslim war of 1993 were the Croats of Bosnia, who, unlike those of Herzegovina, live in widely scattered communities that are frequently far from Croatia or other solid areas of Croatian settlement. Vecernji list of 13 February quotes Bishop Franjo Komarica of Serb-held Banja Luka as saying that his people are frightened and confused, wanting only to get out. He laments, however, that the continued exodus on top of the Serbs' own ethnic cleansing could mean the end for many age-old Croatian communities in Bosnia. Meanwhile in northern Bosnia, on 12 February the cantonal legislature of Posavina met in Orasje amid the presence of many Bosnian and Bosnian Croat dignitaries, including federal President Kresimir Zubak. The session dealt with a number of questions in CroatMuslim relations and marks a step toward the normal functioning of the joint federation in northern Bosnia. The region has its own distinct profile, and the Croats in nearby Gradacac kept their alliance with the Muslims even in 1993. Many Posavina Croats suspect, moreover, that the Zagreb and Herzegovinian authorities have repeatedly sold out their interests. Croatian President Franjo Tudjman has often tried to mollify the angry people of Posavina, many of whom feel he deliberately abandoned their city of Bosanski Brod in a secret deal with the Serbs.-- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.