Soeharto in Sarajevo
Soeharto in Sarajevo
Visiting Sarajevo these days could be very risky. Yet
Indonesia's President Soeharto made a successful visit there on
Monday.
The trip was dangerous because the Serbs outside of the
Bosnian capital are violating the cease-fire. Just last weekend
five people were killed and six others were wounded in an
exchange of fire in Bosnia's besieged capital.
The Serbs, the faction responsible for almost all of the
bloody incidents in the rump Yugoslavia, has renewed its shelling
of the city with mortars.
On Sunday, a plane, which transported United Nations special
envoy Yasushi Akashi, was hit by heavy machine gun fire on the
Sarajevo airport runway. The attackers were believed to be Serbs.
Soeharto, an active military commander for two decades, was
well aware of the risk he would face if he proceeded with his
plan. Yet he did.
Soeharto, who represented the world's largest Moslem country,
went to the beleaguered city to express solidarity with the
Bosnians, who have suffered the most brutal war of attrition
since World War II. What makes the suffering even more
nightmarish for the Bosnians is that the western countries have
clearly been reluctant in their efforts to find a negotiable
solution to the crisis. These countries, who have spoken like
champions of human rights, have hindered the Bosnians, the
victims of aggression, by imposing an arms embargo on them
through the UN Security Council. They have also fruitlessly tried
to force Bosnia-Herzegovina to accept the humiliating
capitulation labeled as peace.
The fact that Soeharto, who is the current leader of the 111-
nation Non-Aligned Movement, has something to contribute to the
peace efforts, is clearly acknowledged by the United Nations.
Before Soeharto flew to Sarajevo, the UN Protection Force had
requested that NATO tame the Serbs by increasing an air presence
over the city as an apparent effort to secure the Indonesian
leader's visit.
The Serbs might have been deterred by NATO's warning but these
people, who form the dominant segment of Yugoslav society, may
also regard Indonesia with respect because Belgrade and Jakarta
were co-founders of NAM.
Turkish President Suleiman Demyrel did not enjoy that
respect. Last month he had to cancel his trip to Sarajevo for the
second time after Serbs threatened to attack his plane. Turkey
has strongly supported the Bosnians in their struggle against the
Serbs' atrocities.
Hopefully, Soeharto's visit to Sarajevo has convinced the
Bosnian people that despite the West's inaction in the crisis
they still have friends in most parts of the globe. The nations
of the West might see little meaning in his visit, but if they
are wise enough to look deeper into the essence of the gesture,
they could well understand that humanitarianism is not their
monopoly.
The visit is also expected to push the nations of the West to
realize their past blunders in facing this problem and to
motivate them to back Indonesia's efforts to find a comprehensive
solution to the horrendous three-year-old crisis.