$ SARAJEVO, Nov 13 (Hina) - Around 500 Moslems gathered in Celic (north Bosnia) on Wednesday, requesting that they be immediately allowed to return to the village of Gajevi in the separation zone between entities from where they were
forced out by the Serb police on Tuesday. UN spokesman Aleksander Ivanko said the Moslem refugees were threatening to return to their homes with weapons if they were not permitted to return in a peaceful way. Representative of the High Representative's Office, Colum Murphy, said that after Tuesday's incident in the village of Gajevi, the process of ratifying the return of refugees to the separation zone came to a standstill.
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SARAJEVO, Nov 13 (Hina) - Around 500 Moslems gathered in Celic
(north Bosnia) on Wednesday, requesting that they be immediately
allowed to return to the village of Gajevi in the separation zone
between entities from where they were forced out by the Serb police
on Tuesday.
UN spokesman Aleksander Ivanko said the Moslem refugees were
threatening to return to their homes with weapons if they were not
permitted to return in a peaceful way.
Representative of the High Representative's Office, Colum
Murphy, said that after Tuesday's incident in the village of
Gajevi, the process of ratifying the return of refugees to the
separation zone came to a standstill. #L#
Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic, president of the Bosnian
Federation, Kresimir Zubak, and president of the Serb entity
Biljana Plavsic, were forwarded a letter in which Carl Bildt's
office, IFOR and international police command and UNHCR urged all
refugees who had crossed over to the Serb entity without
permission, to return to the Bosnian Federation, to stop carrying
weapons into the separation zone and urged the local bodies of
authority to prevent all attempts of violence, including the
destruction of houses.
Until these requests were met, the return of refugees to the
separation zone was under suspension, Murphy said.
Deputy to the International high representative for civilian
issues, Michael Steiner, forwarded a protest to President
Izetbegovic on Tuesday evening.
IFOR spokesman Bratt Boudreau on Wednesday said the conflicts
had begun when a larger group of Serb police officers entered the
village of Gajevi into which Moslem refugees had arrived the day
before.
According to IFOR reports, the first gun shots were heard from
the Moslem side and then shots were fired from all sides.
American and Russian soldiers who were in the area at the time
had to withdraw because, according to Boudreau, they had been
caught in cross-fire and had returned only when the shots had
stopped.
The Serb police had exiled most of the Moslems and IFOR
sources stated that a Moslem had been killed in the conflict while
two persons had been wounded on the Serb side.
There was no proof that there had been any mortar fire,
Boudreau said, estimating that explosions that had been heard had
been caused by hand-held rocket launchers.
IFOR members later searched the field and confiscated three
"kalashnikovs" and a hand-held rocket launcher from the Moslems,
and six automatic guns and a larger amount of ammunition from the
Serbs.
The reaction of the Serb police had been tragic and
unacceptable, but the action of the Moslems had also been
unacceptable, Boudreau said, stressing that in both cases armed
soldiers had entered the field with provocative conduct.
UNHCR spokesman Ralph Rayan warned on Wednesday that such
incidents caused great difficulties in the process of return of
refugees.
The agreed process of return of refugees to the separation
zone was brought to a standstill and conditions have been worsened
considerably.
What happened near Gajevi conveyed that the return of refugees
in fact depended on a strong and effective presence of the
international community in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Rayan said.
This meant that, besides military forces which would provide
security to the returnees, a stable financing of the programme of
return was necessary, Rayan said, adding that such a programme
should consist of not just funds for the reconstruction and repairs
of houses, but also for setting production in motion.
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