SARAJEVO, March 6 (Hina) - Representatives of the Implementation Force in Sarajevo said Wednesday they were dissapointed with recent developments in the Sarajevo suburb of Hadjici over the transfer of authority from Serb forces to the
Bosnian Federation. "The Hadjici incident is a challenge to the peace process and may have a negative impact on the future of the Bosnain Federation," IFOR spokesman Simon Haselock said.
SARAJEVO, March 6 (Hina) - Representatives of the Implementation
Force in Sarajevo said Wednesday they were dissapointed with
recent developments in the Sarajevo suburb of Hadjici over the
transfer of authority from Serb forces to the Bosnian Federation.
"The Hadjici incident is a challenge to the peace process and
may have a negative impact on the future of the Bosnain
Federation," IFOR spokesman Simon Haselock said. #L#
According to Haselock, IFOR headquarters on Tuesday dispatched
troops to Hadjici at the request of the International Police Force
Commissioner in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Peter Fitzgerald. The request
was motivated by the entrance in Hadjici of 20 Croatian police
officers from Kiseljak around 8.30 pm.
French NATO troops blocked the whole area with the aim of
prevent the Croatian police officers from entering Hadjici. The
group, howver, managed to enter the suburb, but were issued an
ultimatum to leave by 8.45 pm, which they did.
Haselock said that the operation was provided for by the
Dayton peace accords which give NATO the authority to take the
necessary steps to remove threats to the future of the Federation.
He stopped short of saying what methods NATO troops would have used
if the ultimatum had not been met.
According to the International Police Force (IPTF) spokesman
in Sarajevo, Aleksandar Ivanko, the Bosnian Federation Deputy
Interior Minister, Jozo Leutar, informed the IPTF on Tuesday
afternoon that Croatian officers would arrive in Hadjici in order
to participate in the work of federal police units.
Fitzgerald had discussed the issue with the federal Interior
Minister, Avdo Hebib, and talks had been held at local and
political levels, Ivanko said.
He also said that the Croat side kept expressing
dissatisfaction with the proposed way of participating in the
federal police force.
Most of the Serbs who had lived in Hadjici have left their
homes. They even burned down the town hall before leaving.
The UNHCR was forced to transfer all equipment from a
warehouse in Hadjici to the Sarajevo airport because the Serbs were
looting the goods and IFOR troops had to intervene.
IFOR representative in Sarajevo Thomas Moyer said in a
statement on Wednesday that NATO troops would secure all crucial
water, gas and electric installations as well as the Post and
Telecommunication facilities in the Sarajevan suburbs of Ilidje and
Grbavica.
The process of reintegrating all Sarajevan suburbs into the
Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina should be completed by 19 March.
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061716 MET mar 96