MUSLIM REFUGEES FROM TRNOVO PREVENTED FROM VISITING THEIR VILLAGE

SARAJEVO, 29 April (Hina) - The Muslim refugees who had been expelled from Trnovo and who today set out from Sarajevo to visit the cemetery in Trnovo for the great Muslim holiday Bayram, did not complete their journey. Trnovo is a small town, 20 km south of Sarajevo, on the territory of the Bosnian Serb entity. Although their journey had been announced to IFOR and UNHCR representatives as well as to the Serb police, six buses with 500 Muslim refugees managed only to reach a separation line between the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Serb entity and had to return. According to a statement from IFOR Sector South-East, the Muslims did not complete their journey to Trnovo because of great tension on the borderline. Some time before 4 pm, they returned to Sarajevo. According to reports from the police station in Ilidza, carried by the Sarajevo media, the Serbs gathered along the road which leads to Trnovo and started throwing stones on the buses with Muslim refugees. Their attack caused material damage and in order to avoid more severe consequences, the police returned the buses to Sarajevo. (hina) rm jn 291949 MET apr 96