Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 13, 1995 TAG: 9507130048
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press|
DATELINE: SARAJEVO, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA LENGTH: Medium
Relishing the latest U.N. humiliation, Gen. Ratko Mladic arrived on the heels of his infantry after they seized the main peacekeeper camp that once protected the civilians of the U.N.-declared ``safe area'' around Srebrenica.
The Serbs took charge of 40,000 hungry and desperate refugees from Srebrenica who sought refuge at the camp just north of the town, in Potocari. They herded women, children and the elderly aboard buses and trucks, separating them from all men over 16, who were held for interrogation.
The Serb rebels requested fuel for the convoys to territory held by the Muslim-led government, but a U.N. official said that would be denied.
``We are not going to assist this in any way,'' said Kris Janowski, a spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. ``This is pure `ethnic cleansing.' We cannot involve ourselves in this.''
More than 1,500 Srebrenica refugees arrived late Wednesday at a U.N. air base east of government-held Tuzla. Another 1,500 were expected during the night after the long trek by bus and foot.
The Dutch U.N. troops charged with protecting the civilians could do little to help. A Serb tank stood at the gate to the Potocari camp, and mortars and rocket launchers were aimed at the refugees, who waited in the 88-degree heat.
The peacekeepers shared their rations - food and water meant for half the U.N. contingent of 400. The UNHCR arranged for shipment of 22 tons of food and other aid to help the refugees, but it was blocked by Serb rebels.
``They are in desperate need of food, clothing and medicines,'' said UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond.
The peacekeepers pleaded in vain with Mladic to abandon plans to take all males over 16 to the nearby town of Bratunac, where Mladic said they would be ``screened for war crimes,'' according to U.N. spokesman Alexander Ivanko.
Mladic himself, along with other Bosnian Serb leaders, has been named a suspected war criminal by a special U.N. tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands.
Protected by muscular bodyguards, Mladic approached a boy, patted him on the head and asked for his name, then told a group of refugees: ``There is nothing for you to be afraid about. You can do whatever you want, either go or stay. No one will do you any harm.''
But he was clearly there to oversee their expulsion.
The fall of Srebrenica, one of six U.N.-designated ``safe areas,'' was the latest in a humiliating series of events for the United Nations, and dramatically highlighted the weaknesses of the U.N. mission in Bosnia.
The Serbs took hostage additional Dutch peacekeepers after overrunning their positions late Tuesday and Wednesday, bringing the total number of U.N. captives to 48.
The United Nations requested two NATO air assaults during the Srebrenica attack Tuesday, but called off a third after the Serbs threatened to kill the 30 peacekeepers they had first seized during the siege of the town.
Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic, fed up with what he called a lack of U.N. resolve, requested the resignation of Yasushi Akashi, the senior U.N. envoy in the former Yugoslavia, and demanded that the U.N. troops retake Srebrenica by force.
France said it would consider a military response to oust the Serbs from Srebrenica. British Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind said Wednesday that Britain was waiting for more information from the French ``as to the details of what they have in mind.'' France and Britain have the most peacekeepers in Bosnia.
The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to ask Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali to ``use all resources available'' to do that, but his chief military adviser said the task was beyond the U.N. troops in Bosnia.
Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic dismissed calls for him to withdraw from the enclave.
``What withdrawal? From our country?'' he asked. ``Srebrenica is our country.''
by CNB