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.