IZETBEGOVIC COMMENTS ON MEDIA REPORTS ABOUT MOSLEM CRIMES

( Editorial: --> 5037 ) SARAJEVO, Dec 1 (Hina) - Facing a series of unpleasant questions about war crimes committed by Moslems, the leader of the Moslem-led Party of the Democratic Action (SDA) and the President of Bosnia- Herzegovina's collective Presidency, Alija Izetbegovic, reacted to reports raised recently by independent Sarajevo media. He commented on allegations about crimes committed in Sarajevo during the Serb siege of the Bosnian capital, the killings of Croats in the Neretva valley and for the first time on the fate of 26 Bugojno Croats who are still registered as missing. At a forum of the Moslem (Bosniak) intellectuals' council on Saturday in Sarajevo, Izetbegovic accused the media that raised the question of the crimes committed by Moslems of "competing for showing the bleak side of society". He claimed that such newspapers were not at all independent, but that they were part of "the campaign against the Bosnian authorities and Army (of BiH)". However, Izetbegovic abandoned the usual claim that "we have not committed crimes, nor have we destroyed churches". "Unfortunately, there were crimes," Izetbegovic admitted. But, he added that from the political point of view, the question should be asked how many (crimes) there were, although every crime is a crime. Refusing the possibility that crimes were the product of decisions of either the political or the military leadership, he urged that an investigation should have the final word regarding the whole matter. He confirmed that an inquiry into the 1993 abuse and killings of Croats in Grabovica (southern Bosnia) had been stopped. Izetbegovic said that "soldiers of our Army could have up to 100 people on their conscience from the unfortunate events in Kazani, Grabovica and the tunnel of Celebici and in perhaps two or three places, and from, probably, the (crimes) against Croats in Bugojno although it (Bugojno case) is yet to be proved". The Moslem political leader said that "perhaps, one in a thousand of our soldiers were involved in crimes", adding that it was an absolute lie that between two and three thousand Serbs had been killed in Sarajevo. Izetbegovic claimed that the commander of the 10th alpine brigade, the notorious Musan Topalovic-Caco, and some of his companions killed Sarajevans for gain regardless of the nationality of their victims. Izetbegovic said that the International War Crimes Tribunal (ICTY) "will enjoy our full cooperation" in casting light on those crimes. (hina) jn mš 011605 MET dec 97