Serbs furious as UN backs arrest of two officers

KURT SCHORK

Reuter

Sarajevo - The Bosnian peace process ran into deep crisis yesterday as Serb anger at the recent seizure of two of their officers by government forces boiled over. The UN War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague yesterday asked the Muslim-led Bosnian government to arrest provisionally the two officers, General Djorde Djukic and Colonel Aleksa Krsmanovic, saying it was considering indicting them for atrocities.

Nato urged restraint but the Bosnian Serbs, who say the two officers were negotiators on their way to a meeting with Nato officials, said the entire peace process was under threat.

"General Djukic must be released if peace is to be reached in the territory of Bosnia-Herzegovina," said General Milan Gvero, deputy commander of the Bosnian Serb army general staff.

The Bosnian Serb army commander, General Ratko Mladic, himself accused of war crimes, broke two months of silence to threaten to freeze contacts with the peace Implementation Force (I-For). The Serb "prime minister", Rajko Kasagic, called off meetings with the international mediator Carl Bildt and the Prince of Wales in Sarajevo tomorrow.

In Geneva, an official of the International Committee of the Red Cross, confirming the long-held views of Red Cross staff in Bosnia, said he was convinced 3,000 Bosnian Muslims had been massacred after the fall of Srebrenica. "I would like to say that the Bosnian Serb authorities have a serious responsibility for what happened in Srebrenica." Jean de Courten, ICRC director of operations, told a news conference.

UN human rights investigators have visited several sites on Serb-held territory where survivors say there are mass graves of Muslims, but no proper examination has been done.

Washington, which brokered the Dayton peace deal last year, believes a proper investigation of war crimes and the punishment of those responsible is essential to the survival of the agreement. But the Hague tribunal's request for the detention of the two Serb officers - and another six soldiers - is likely to complicate the efforts of Mr Bildt, who is in charge of the civilian side of the peace process, to build confidence between the rival factions.

Mr Bildt was clearly annoyed at the arrest of the officers when he spoke to reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday. "It has been an effort of mine to have confidence in freedom of movement for Bosnian Serb representatives to come freely to Sarajevo and have talks there." he said. "Legal rights must be respected in all circumstances. If there are no indictments, then freedom clearly applies to everyone."