WASHINGTON, Jan 4 (Hina) - The release of 16 civilians, abducted by the Bosnian Serbs in Sarajevo in the last several days, was good news, spokesman for the State Department Nicholas Burns told a press conference today. The release
had been demanded by the United States and IFOR, he added.
WASHINGTON, Jan 4 (Hina) - The release of 16 civilians, abducted by
the Bosnian Serbs in Sarajevo in the last several days, was good
news, spokesman for the State Department Nicholas Burns told a
press conference today. The release had been demanded by the United
States and IFOR, he added. #L#
'If the reports are true...we welcome the decision by the
Bosnian Serb authorities to release 16 innocent civilians', Burns
said.
He stressed that the abduction of the 16 persons was direct
violation of the Dayton agreements and direct violation of
commitments accepted by the Bosnian Serb authorities and by
Belgrade.
Charge d'affaires in the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade had sent a
message to the Serbian president on Wednesday, demanding that the
abducted persons be immediately released, Burns said.
There was no justification for such an act, freedom of
movement was the key condition for the preservation of peace in
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Burns said.
The U.S. Administration welcomed IFOR's decision to deploy
additional French troops in the Serb-controlled suburbs of
Sarajevo.
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