FBIS4-7541
"dreeu063_i_94001"
FBIS-EEU-94-063
Daily Report
1 Apr 1994
BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
UN Warns of New Wave of Ethnic Cleansing
UN Warns of New Wave of Ethnic Cleansing
AU0104133694 Paris AFP in English 1312 GMT 1 Apr 94
AU0104133694
Paris AFP
English
BFN
[Article by Victoria Stegic]
[Excerpts] Sarajevo, April 1 (AFP) -- Bosnian Serbs shelled
the beleagured enclave of Gorazde again Friday [1 April] in one
of several Serb attacks on Moslem pockets amid growing evidence
of a new wave of ethnic cleansing, UN officials said.
Rob Annink, spokesman for the United Nations Protection
Force
(UNPROFOR) said the situation in Goradze in eastern Bosnia
remained tense, hours after Bosnian sources said the death toll
from bombardments Wednesday and Thursday had reached at least
30, with around 100 wounded.
Major Annink said UN observers counted 21 shells early
Friday
falling on the enclave, only hours after the Bosnian government
urged the UN to protect Gorazde in line with the enclave's
status as one of six UN-designated "safe havens." [passage
omitted]
Meanwhile a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) expressed alarm over the safety of Moslems in
the northern Banja Luka region. Spokesman Kris Janovski said at
least seven civilians had been killed there in recent days,
apparently in revenge attacks sparked after the corpses of seven
Serb policemen killed on the front lines were brought back to
the town. He added that the UNHCR had only sketchy details of
the deaths, which were reported by acquaintances of the victims
and confirmed by Banja Luka's Moslem humanitarian association,
Merhamet.
Janovski also cited evidence of a fresh wave of ethnic
cleansing by Serbs in Sanski Most, 30 kilometres (18 miles) from
Banja Luka. Under the pretext that Moslem houses are too large
for their occupants, Serb police in the town are forcibly
installing Serb families in their place, he said. The tactic has
emerged amid an influx of Serb refugees into the Banja Luka
region from north and central Bosnian frontline towns, notably
Maglaj, Zepce and Zenica. Janovski said more than 850 Serbs had
entered the region as refugees in the last three months.
On Thursday, Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic said he had
proof that around 300 Moslems and between 150 and 200 Bosnian
Croats were being forcibly expelled from Banja Luka every day.
Izetbegovic charged that the UNHCR and UN peacekeepers were
helping the evacuation of Moslems and Croats "instead of
guaranteeing their security," and called on both communities not
to "give way to terror" and to remain in their homes.
Meanwhile Annink said violent fighting had broken out in the
northern Maglaj pocket, with infantry clashes and heavy Serb
shelling Thursday near Tesanj, 10 kilometres (six miles) from
the town. [passage omitted] Annink said 84 Serb shells landed
on the pocket Thursday, while its Moslem defenders riposted with
eight projectiles.
A British UN armed vehicle which skirted frontlines after a
navigation error came under fire from Serb artillery but was not
hit, the spokesman said. A total of 13 Serb shells also fell on
Zenica, Travnik and Turbe, central Bosnia, Thursday. Annink
added that a Bosnian army liaison officer was hit by Croat
sniper fire in the southern city of Mostar, in violation of
peace accords sealed Wednesday with the creation of the
Moslem-Bosnian Croat federation in Bosnia.
UNPROFOR also reported serious violations of the Sarajevo
ceasefire Thursday, during which one government soldier was
wounded.
Separately, Annink said that the UN's new civil adminstrator
for the Bosnian capital, US diplomat William Eagleton, was due
to arrive in the city late Monday. Appointed under UN Security
Council resolutions adopted last month, Eagleton's brief is to
oversee the rebirth of Sarajevo's shattered public services.