Serb refugees take bloody revenge

KRAJINA SERBS newly dispossessed by Zagreb's offensive have sought vicious revenge for the loss of their homes in Croatia by murdering and expelling Bosnian Croats and Muslims from the Serb-held town of Banja Luka, according to UN officials who fear another mass expulsion of those Muslims and Croats - 67,000 of a pre-war population of more than half a million - still in Banja Luka.

An elderly Muslim couple were tortured and killed by three Serb men in uniform, who returned 24 hours later to loot their house in Vrbanja, close to Banja Luka, said Kris Janowski, a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. "The woman, who was partly disabled, was cut up with scissors and a broken bottle," he said. "Apparently she was screaming for half an hour for the soldiers to kill her before they shot her."

Last week a Croat who tried to negotiate on behalf of a neighbour whose house was seized by Krajina Serb refugees was shot dead by one of the Serbs. "The day after the man's funeral the widow was evicted by another group of refugees," Mr Janowski said.

The UN has heard rumours that the Serbs are planning to expel 1,000 Croats today by ferrying them across the Sava river border to Croatia. "There could be a mass eviction of minorities from Banja Luka," said Mr Janowski. "The [Catholic] Bishop's office knows of three other cases of murder."

More than 60,000 Krajina Serb refugees have crossed into Serbia proper, via Bosnia and Croatia, and those who remain, including 10,000 in Banja Luka, plan to follow suit, the UN said. But Belgrade, which has long sought to crush its own Muslim minority, has begun moving the first 2,000 towards Kosovo, where ethnic Albanians form 90 per cent of the population. An influx of Serbs is not likely to ease the explosive situation there.

The United Nations Rapid Reaction Force fired 16 mortar rounds at a Bosnian Serb gun position outside Sarajevo yesterday after the Serbs shelled a UN observation post. Ten rounds landed within 50 metres of the post, which was manned by British and French peace-keepers. There were no UN casualties.

More reports, pages 12-13