NATO braces for refugee clashes in N. Bosnia

NATO braces for refugee clashes in N. Bosnia

SARAJEVO (AFP): Bosnian Serb and Moslem leaders told the NATO-
led peacekeeping force (IFOR) yesterday they would act to prevent
violent clashes as groups of Bosnian refugees try to return to
their former homes in Serb-held territory.

NATO troops are braced for further violence in northern Bosnia
following recent clashes between groups of largely Bosnian
refugees and mainly Serb civilians.

IFOR spokesman, Lt. Col. Max Marinner, said: "The interior
ministries of the parties have formally accepted their
responsibilities and have said they will prevent civil disorder
and maintain law and order."

He did not say what measures the parties had proposed.

On Saturday, IFOR, deployed in Bosnia to separate the former
warring forces and guarantee freedom of movement, said that if
asked by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) it would
"take appropriate measures to restrict or prevent large-scale
movements of vehicles in order to assist in controlling the
situation."

It denied the move was a restriction of freedom of movement or
was tantamount to giving in to threats of Serb violence.

IFOR said it condemned political authorities of both sides in
the dispute for "orchestrating the violence."

And Marriner warned yesterday: "Soldiers are the wrong people
to control crowds. It is a recipe for disaster."

Several marches are planned for yesterday by Bosnian refugees
trying to visit homes in the flashpoint towns of Doboj and Brcko
and the village of Mahala, near the Moslem-held town of Kalesija.

Yesterday is the first day of Kordan Bayram, an important
Moslem festival, and many Bosnians are keen to return to their
home towns for a first post-war visit to family graves.

"Things go wrong when they want to make a political statement
with those visits. We do not want a religious festival to turn
into a political hijacking exercise," Marinner said.

NATO troops deployed forces around the towns early yesterday
but there was as yet no sign of a mass movement of Bosnians, an
IFOR officer said.

"We will be ready for trouble if it comes, but of course we
hope there won't be any," said the officer, who asked not to be
named.

IFOR has accused the authorities on all sides of attempting to
provoke and organize confrontations after a series of violent
clashes in the past week.

In the latest incident, two hand grenades and stones were
thrown as a 250-strong crowd of Bosnian refugees clashed with
Serb civilians near Tuzla on Thursday, injuring one Bosnian.

An IFOR officer, who asked not to be named, told AFP Saturday
that Bosnian Serb military chief Gen. Ratko Mladic had warned
IFOR not to allow Bosnian refugees into the Republika Srpska, the
Serb-administered entity created under the Dayton peace accords
for Bosnia.

Mladic said he could not guarantee the safety of IFOR troops
in the event of protests to block the Moslem refugees.

Marinner confirmed yesterday that a letter had been received
from Mladic but said he was not aware of the contents. IFOR does
not acknowledge Mladic, an indicted war criminal.

Some 2.4 million people were forced to abandon their homes
during the war in Bosnia which began in 1992. The Dayton peace
accords for Bosnia, signed in December, provide for their return.
Bosnia is divided between two entities -- the Republika Sprska
and a Bosnian-Croat federation.