Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, August 29, 1995 TAG: 9508290054
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: SARAJEVO, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA LENGTH: Medium
It was the same market where 68 people died last year in a similar attack.
The morning attack came as a U.S. delegation led by Assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke arrived in Paris to meet Bosnia's president and representatives of other countries trying to end the war.
The Bosnian government blamed Serb gunners and suggested it might withdraw from U.S.-sponsored talks that started Monday in Paris unless NATO retaliates for the deadly shelling. The United Nations said air raids remained a possibility - but not before it has established who fired.
Holbrooke, the head of the U.S. mission, pledged not to let the attack derail his peace work. ``It will only make us redouble our efforts,'' he said.
Bodies, some without arms or legs, lay in pooled blood outside the battered, early 1900s building that houses Sarajevo's largest indoor market.
One old man's head was split open; his motorcycle was still between his legs. Some bodies fell apart as rescuers loaded them into cars. Many of the dead were children and old people.
``Oh God, isn't there someone who can help us?'' pleaded an unharmed, weeping old man. ``Isn't there someone who can finally stop this butchery and allow us to live like the rest of the world?''
U.N. spokesmen said the shell was a 120 mm mortar fired from the south, but a radar detection system had not picked it up and they could not immediately determine who had fired it. Suspicion fell on Bosnian Serbs, who have besieged Sarajevo for 40 months and rejected previous peace efforts.
The Bosnian army said the deadly round originated in Serb-held territory between Grbavica, a part of Sarajevo, and the suburb Lukavica. Bosnian Serbs accused the Muslim-led government of staging the massacre to pressure them as the peace mission got under way.
``Should the ongoing investigation ... determine responsibility, I warn those responsible that strong action will be taken,'' said the U.N. chief for former Yugoslavia, Yasushi Akashi.
U.N. officials said both NATO warplanes and the international force now dug in on Mount Igman outside Sarajevo could respond. NATO said Aug. 1 that any attacks on Sarajevo or other areas designated as U.N.-protected zones would be met with a ``firm and rapid response.''
At Kosevo, Sarajevo's main hospital, many people with shrapnel wounds were forced to wait outside. All nine operating theaters were in use.
Sarajevans rushed to the hospitals, looking for friends and relatives. Hospital officials printed two lists: One identifying the injured was posted at the main emergency unit, and one for the dead was stuck on a morgue wall.
As he entered a meeting with Holbrooke in Paris on Monday night, Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic demanded NATO air strikes against the Serbs. NATO ``must protect us or let us protect ourselves'' he said, referring to the alliance's opposition to ending an arms embargo against Bosnia.
Bosnian Prime Minister Haris Silajdzic said his government may suspend the peace initiative. ``We need clear answers whether NATO is protecting civilians in Sarajevo and other safe zones,'' he said.
``Is Sarajevo a safe zone or a killing ghetto?'' he asked.
Izetbegovic, in a statement for Sarajevo radio, said he had been considering canceling his visit today to Paris to meet with Holbrooke, but then decided to make the trip.
``We will use all means to get out of this misery. I want to stress: all means,'' he said. ``And regarding the [Serb] criminals, I want to let them know that we will pay back in kind, and very soon. That day is not far away.''
Holbrooke is scheduled to travel from Paris to Belgrade, the Serbian capital, for more talks with the Serbian president, regional power broker Slobodan Milosevic.
The Clinton administration blamed the Serbs for the attack but did not directly threaten them with NATO bombardment.
Keywords:
FATLAITY
by CNB