SARAJEVO, Jan 3 (Hina) - U.S. Secretary of Defense William Perry, who arrived in the Bosnian capital Wednesday to witness the devastation of war and the massive deployment of NATO forces, voiced hope that his visit would mark a better
future for the country.
SARAJEVO, Jan 3 (Hina) - U.S. Secretary of Defense William Perry,
who arrived in the Bosnian capital Wednesday to witness the
devastation of war and the massive deployment of NATO forces,
voiced hope that his visit would mark a better future for the
country. #L#
Immediately after arriving in Sarajevo, Perry met with the
chief commander of the NATO-led Bosnian peace Implementation Force
(IFOR), Admiral Leighton Smith, then with President Alija
Izetbegovic, Foreign and Defence Ministers Muhamed Sacirbey and
Jadranko Prlic and with other senior Bosnian government officials.
Perry was accompanied by General John Shalikashvili, chairman
of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, and General George Joulwan, the
NATO European commander.
"The IFOR deployment is going very well," Perry told reporters
after the meeting. "The parties are cooperating fully with NATO's
implementation force. I think this speaks very well for the future.
"I believe that the parties are willing to quit the killings,
the hatred and the atrocities, to work together to build a new
Bosnia so that the children and the grandchildren can live in
peace," he said.
Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic said the talks confirmed a
joint view that IFOR's deployment went on successfully, even more
than expected, adding that a particular attention was drawn to the
situation in Sarajevo.
He stressed that federal authority was ready to do everything
in order to make Serb population stay in the Sarajevo suburbs,
currently controlled by Bosnian Serb forces.
Sacirbey said they had also discussed fate of the people the
Serbs had abducted at the city access roads over past ten days.
"Admiral Smith has promised full cooperation in resolving this
problem, and something has already been done," he said.
Perry agreed that "the task of the NATO's implementation force
is to ensure freedom of movement under the terms of the Dayton
agreement," but also added: "We are not set up as a police force."
He said it was important for an international police force to
get to Bosnia and begin its work as soon as possible. About 2,000
U.N. civilian police are due in Sarajevo by the end of January, but
police authority is weak now.
"By that time, NATO is ready to assist in resolving the
problems," he added.
Perry is the first Clinton Administration member to visit
Bosnia-Herzegovina. Generals Shalikashvili and Joulwan have been to
the country before, to oversee the preparations for the NATO
forces' deployment.
(Hina) mm bk
031436 MET jan 96