SARAJEVO, April 1 (Hina) - An investigation carried out by the NATO-led Stabilisation Force in Bosnia-Herzegovina confirms that the intelligence service of the Bosnian Serb entity had spied on international organisations and
individuals and on the other entity, the Croat-Muslim federation.
SARAJEVO, April 1 (Hina) - An investigation carried out by the NATO-
led Stabilisation Force in Bosnia-Herzegovina confirms that the
intelligence service of the Bosnian Serb entity had spied on
international organisations and individuals and on the other
entity, the Croat-Muslim federation. #L#
A spokesman for SFOR, Dale MacEachern, said on Tuesday that during a
March 7 search of the offices of the Serb army's intelligence
service in Banja Luka, international peace keepers found material
confirming the implication of Bosnian Serb spies in serious
activities which breached the Dayton peace accords.
The Army of the Republic of Srpska has gathered and used information
on SFOR, the Office of the High Representative, institutions of
Bosnia-Herzegovina and individuals on both entities, the spokesman
said adding that such action is the clear breach of the annex 1A of
the Dayton agreement under which the two entities' military should
act in a transparent manner.
According SFOR, 46 percent of the information which Bosnian Serbs
obtained through the spying referred to individuals and
international organisations in Bosnia, 38 percent of the files were
on state civil and military authorities in Bosnia, 11 percent
referred to SFOR and five percent to the European Union Police
Mission (EUPM).
MacEacher said the found material confirmed suspicions that the
Bosnian Serb entity's leadership and army command had known of the
activities of its intelligence service. Furthermore, the local
government directly supported the said service's activities aimed
at the obstruction of the implementation of the Dayton deal.
The SFOR spokesman said the findings of the international
peacekeepers were forwarded to the Office of the High
Representative (OHR).
He declined to comment on media reports that potential witnesses in
trials led by the UN war crimes tribunal were under Serb spies'
surveillance.
He could not either confirm whether the data the Bosnian Serb spying
activities covered Croatia as well.
A source of the international community, who spoke on the condition
of anonymity, said that clear evidence was found on the Bosnian Serb
authorities' interest in measures being taken against crime and
corruption.
The same source added that firm evidence was found on close ties
between the Bosnian Serb army's intelligence service and the
Yugoslav Army's counter-intelligence service (KOS). This
indicates that the army of the Republic of Srpska could be
implicated in the assassination of Serbian Premier Zoran
Djindjic.
The OHR therefore decided to do everything to help the current
authorities in Serbia in its clamp-down on crime.
(hina) ms sb