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.