
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, February 6, 1994                   TAG: 9402060093
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Boston Globe
DATELINE: SARAJEVO, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA                                LENGTH: Medium

SARAJEVO SHELL KILLS DOZENS SERBS DENY RESPONSIBILITY FOR MARKET BLAST

In the most brutal attack of the two-year siege of this Bosnian capital, at least 66 people were killed and more than 200 wounded Saturday when a mortar shell exploded in the downtown outdoor market during the busy midday hour.

The market, filled to the brim with people buying or selling black market wares, was transformed within seconds into a gruesome morgue, with dead bodies and severed limbs scattered throughout by the force of the blast.

The extraordinary carnage was caused by just one shell, which Bosnian leaders said came from Serb-held Mrkovici. Serb leaders denied all responsibility.

Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic, calling Saturday "a black and terrible day," ordered a special government session Saturday night. A team of Bosnians negotiating with Serbs at the airport was ordered withdrawn.

A senior administration official said Washington had "very little doubt" that Serb gunners fired the mortar, but the U.N. Protection Force said it had so far not been able to determine who fired it, Reuters reported.

Gen. Milan Gvero, the Bosnian Serb army deputy commander, denied his men had fired on Sarajevo and said the massacre had been caused by "the planting of an explosive device" in the market.

Another Serb general, Manojlo Milovanovic, threatened to block all U.N. aid distribution in Bosnia beginning today unless U.N. investigators agreed to a joint probe that would exonerate his forces, who have besieged Sarajevo through the 22-month conflict.

This war-hardened city, in which no family has gone untouched, was reeling in shock.

Bosnian Vice President Ejup Ganic took to CNN to implore the West to lift the arms embargo to "allow us to defend ourselves." He called on NATO to act or to allow Bosnia to do so. "Just untie our hands," Ganic said.

Those surveying the scene found it hard to believe that the shell, which hit with deadly precision, was anything but a cold, calculated attack.

As confusion reigned at the scene, observers told of a blast so quick that no one had time to protect themselves. Those who were in the wrong place at the wrong time were simply killed outright - or reduced to bits and pieces of human flesh.

"They were carrying parts of people and putting them into the truck, legs, hands, fingers," said Belma Muratovic, interviewed shortly after the blast, her face still white.

by CNB