SARAJEVO, March 18 (Hina) - The Bosnian Federation police will enter Grbavica at 6.00 am, Tuesday, when the control of the Sarajevan suburb is to be transferred from the Bosnian Serbs to the Federal authority, in line with the Dayton
peace accords.
SARAJEVO, March 18 (Hina) - The Bosnian Federation police will
enter Grbavica at 6.00 am, Tuesday, when the control of the
Sarajevan suburb is to be transferred from the Bosnian Serbs to the
Federal authority, in line with the Dayton peace accords. #L#
Fifty to one hundred Bosnian policemen were expected to enter
Grbavica on Tuesday, UN spokesman in Sarajevo Aleksandar Ivanko
said.
Representatives of international organizations described the
situation in Grbavica as very tense.
Grbavica was for most part deserted, UNHCR spokesman Kris
Janowski said.
Some men are loading trucks with everything that had been left
behind and were setting fires to abandoned buildings.
The UNHCR had organized shelters for people who had decided to
stay in their homes. Sixteen persons have been accommodated in the
shelters since Monday morning.
Janowski stressed that Italian IFOR units had shown great
courage in saving the elderly and children from burning buildings.
NATO soldiers and international policemen are trying to
provide protection to the local residents from looters and
incendiary attacks. They do not have the authority to hold for long
periods of time persons they arrest for arson or robbery, but have
to hand them over to the Serb police, which, in turn, releases them
immediately.
The Federal policemen are to enter the margins of the Stari
Grad and Centar municipalities, and the Dobrinja neighbourhood, one
section of which is to remain in the Serb entity.
The corridor linking Sarajevo and Gorazde which runs through
areas held by Bosnian Serbs towards Gorazde is also to be handed
over to the Federation.
(hina) lm jn
181634 MET mar 96