BRCKO: BOSNIAN SERB STUDENTS SEEK SEPARATE SCHOOLS FROM MUSLIMS

SARAJEVO/BRCKO, Oct 19 (Hina) - Several hundred high school students rallied in Brcko in north-eastern Bosnia on Thursday continuing to protest the education system in force in this district. For four consecutive days, students of Muslim and Serb nationality have been protesting to draw attention to the depth the ethnic rift continues to have in Bosnia even five years after conflicts ended. Brcko has the status of a separate district whose administration is independent of the governments of both the Bosnian Serb republic and the Croat-Muslim federation, Bosnia's two constituent entities.#L# We think things have gone too far, a spokesman for the United Nations Mission to Bosnia, Douglas Coffman, said on Thursday. He confirmed police in the district had received backup from Tuzla and Bijeljina to maintain peace and prevent new incidents. Bosnian Serb students, protesting since Tuesday, today formally requested Mayor Sinisa Kisic to establish separate national schools and reinstate Serb insignia in schools which would be reserved for them. The education system in Brcko, however, continues to operate on principles of an apartheid of sorts. The north-eastern town's high school students do attend class in the same buildings, although in different shifts. Serb national insignia have been removed from schools and replaced with those of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina after the establishment of a district under international supervision. On several occasions, Serb students destroyed the Bosnian coat-of- arms and flags in the schools. Muslim students responded on one occasion by setting a Serb flag on fire. Last week, two Muslims were injured in a fight. According to the Sarajevo press, Nureman Bahljulji and his sister Zlata were told on that occasion that "balije (a derogatory term for Muslims) must leave Brcko." This incident led to the Muslim students' protests, which were soon followed by "counter-meetings" of their Serb colleagues. The protests, however, showed the background was of a deeply political nature. The protesters carried black flags with a skull (Chetnik flags), chanted "This is Serbia", glorified Bosnian Serb war criminals and former leaders Radovan Karazdic and Ratko Mladic, and hurled abuse at the district and the most prominent local officials. Windows of Muslim-owned shops were smashed and several houses accommodating Muslim returnees were damaged. Brcko police chief Dusko Kokanovic said early on that among the students were those who had finished school long ago and that the students were being unscrupulously manipulated. We expect some people will be arrested soon, the U.N. spokesman said in Sarajevo, confirming that the events were being seriously investigated. Coffman called on the students to return to school and let elected officials settle open issues. The Office of the High Representative also believes the Brcko pupils have been manipulated. "We have to put an end to using Brcko as a subject of political games," spokesman Oleg Milisic said. He confirmed there were clues implicating some political structures in the latest events, but declined to say who might be behind the Brcko incidents. The history of the Brcko issue clearly illustrates the gravity of the consequences of last decade's Bosnia conflicts. Brcko was given district status after several years of delays in deciding within whose borders this strategically crucial town in north-eastern Bosnia belonged to: the Bosnian Serb republic or the Croat-Muslim federation. The federation defended its claim to Brcko by irrefutable facts which said that before it was seized and ethnically cleansed by Karadzic's units, Serbs accounted for only 21 percent of its population, the rest being Croats and Muslims. The Bosnian Serb republic, however, refused to give Brcko up. It was seized because it is a traffic junction and connects Serb territories in western and eastern Bosnia. (hina) ha jn