ICTY: DUTCH GENERAL TESTIFIES ON ATTACKS ON SARAJEVO

THE HAGUE, Sept 11 (Hina) - Dutch General Adriaan van Baal said before the UN war crimes tribunal at The Hague on Thursday at the trial of ex-Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic that in the spring of 1994 sniper fire was opened on Sarajevo under the command of the Bosnian Serb top officials. #L# The then head of the UNPROFOR General Staff in Bosnia told the tribunal that Bosnian Serb Army General Manojlo Milovanovic told him in March 1994 that sniper fire would be opened on city tram passengers should city traffic be established again, which eventually did happen. General Milovanovic said he controlled the opening and the ceasing of sniper fire, said the Dutch general, adding that he then drew a conclusion that sniper shots across the city were ordered from the very top. The objective was to intimidate civilians, especially women and children who made most of the victims, he said. According to the Dutch general, forces of the Bosnian Serb Army never acted without the knowledge of the General Staff. The final word was always that of Bosnian Serb President Radovan Karadzic, he said. During the cross-examination, the defendant accused the UNPROFOR of failing to stop the Army of Bosnia-Herzegovina from opening fire the city. The witness said the international forces were unable to control all parts of the Army of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Milosevic said that sniper fire was opened from the government building in Sarajevo on Serb positions and the witness confirmed his claim. The defendant asked the witness to give a full description of the crisis near Gorazde in April 1994, when NATO bombed Serb positions and in retaliation Serbs detained 58 UN military observers. General van Baal is one of the first of a series of witnesses for the prosecution who will testify about the Serb siege of Sarajevo, which is an important part of the indictment which charges Milosevic with genocide in Bosnia. (hina) it