ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, March 30, 1996 TAG: 9604010023
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: SARAJEVO, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Bosnian Serb police temporarily detained an Associated Press reporter today, after a crowd of Serbs beat him as he tried to investigate reports of fighting in a Sarajevo suburb.
Srecko Latal, based in Sarajevo, was taken into custody and driven to Serb-held Lukavica, outside the capital. Serb police released him there a few hours later.
Latal had two black eyes and cuts on his mouth. He said he felt fine except for a sore jaw.
``I was going through a mass of 30 to 40 people, and everybody was beating me,'' he said after an Associated Press Television vehicle brought him back to the AP office in Sarajevo.
Odd Andersen, an Agence France-Presse photographer, said he saw a Serb crowd attack Latal and then detain him for no reason. He said Italian peacekeeping forces briefly intervened, but then handed Latal over to the Serbs.
Latal was pursuing reports of a clash between Muslim-Croat federation police and Serbs in the suburb of Grbavica. Sarajevo police said Serbs were looting a house on the boundary line between Serb and federation territory, and that Serbs threw grenades at police who tried to intervene.
Andersen said some streets in the area belong to one side and others to the other, with little distinction. But the place where Latal was detained is populated by Serbs, he said.
Andersen said he, Latal and other reporters were walking around with U.N. police and NATO troops, including Italian soldiers, when one of the Serbs in the crowd grabbed Latal's arm.
Latal ``did not speak to anyone,'' said Andersen. ``He didn't provoke anything.''
Andersen said he tried to get Latal away from the Serbs.
``Suddenly the whole crowd went mad and came over and tried to drag him away. They started beating him,'' said Andersen.
``I was screaming to the Italian soldiers, `This is a journalist! You have to help him!''' he said. ``I had to let go because there were too many of them, and they were beating me also.''
``Then they dragged him into a Serb police car,'' Andersen said. ``The Serb crowd continued beating him. He was bleeding from the mouth and one of his eyes was swollen.''
Andersen said the Italians got Latal out of the car after two or three minutes. The Italians searched him, took him into an armored personnel carrier, handcuffed him, and turned him over to Serb police after 20 minutes with no explanation.
LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: headshot of Latalby CNB