SARAJEVO, Dec 20 (Hina) - General George Joulwan officially declared the start of operation "Joint Guard" on Friday, by which the mandate of Stabilization Forces (SFOR) in Bosnia-Herzegovina officially came into effect. At a humble
ceremony held in the NATO base in Ilidza (near Sarajevo), General Joulwan said that SFOR representatives would take all available measures to maintain peace established during the IFOR mandate. He also warned that it was exclusively up to the sides in Bosnia to maintain the achieved peace and to establish new bodies of authority, as well as to completely reconstruct the country.
SARAJEVO, Dec 20 (Hina) - General George Joulwan officially
declared the start of operation "Joint Guard" on Friday, by which
the mandate of Stabilization Forces (SFOR) in Bosnia-Herzegovina
officially came into effect.
At a humble ceremony held in the NATO base in Ilidza (near
Sarajevo), General Joulwan said that SFOR representatives would
take all available measures to maintain peace established during
the IFOR mandate.
He also warned that it was exclusively up to the sides in
Bosnia to maintain the achieved peace and to establish new bodies
of authority, as well as to completely reconstruct the country. #L#
IFOR Commander, General William Crouch, is to remain head of
SFOR in the next 18 months.
He stressed on Friday that under his command, SFOR would help
the people in Bosnia-Herzegovina to maintain peace and to fortify
what had been accomplished during the IFOR mission.
Present at the official ceremony of authority transfer from
IFOR to SFOR were high representatives for the implementation of
the peace agreement, Carl Bildt, his deputy Michael Steiner and
International Police Task Force (IPTF) chief Peter Fitzgerald.
(hina) lm jn
201238 MET dec 96