RUSSIA/BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA U.N. PEACEKEEPERS MONITOR SARAJEVO'S HEAVY WEAPONS EXCLUSION ZONE TO MAKE SURE BOSNIAN SERBS WITHDRAW BANNED GUNS

Record ID: 504215

  • Title: RUSSIA/BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA U.N. PEACEKEEPERS MONITOR SARAJEVO'S HEAVY WEAPONS EXCLUSION ZONE TO MAKE SURE BOSNIAN SERBS WITHDRAW BANNED GUNS
  • Date: 21st September 1994
  • Summary: SARAJEVO, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA (SEPTEMBER 21, 1994) (AGENCY POOL) SV UNITED NATIONS (U.N.) OFFICERS LEAVING BUILDING 0.32 SV U.N. COMMANDER IN BOSNIA LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SIR MICHAEL ROSE TALKING ABOUT THE SERBIAN WEAPONS AND THAT HE HAD ASSURANCES THAT THEY WILL BE REMOVED (ENGLISH) 1.21 TRANSCRIPT: ROSE: "AS YOU KNOW WE TAKE ANY WEAPON WHICH IS WITHIN 20 KILOMETRES OF THE TOTAL EXCLUSION ZONE AS A VIOLATION. THERE WERE SIX FAIRLY OLD WEAPONS WHAT WE HAD IDENTIFIED AND A NUMBER OF SUSPECTED WEAPONS AND I WENT TO SEE DR. KARADZIC SOME WEEK AGO AND ASKED HIM TO REMOVE THEM BECAUSE THEY WERE AN IRRITATION RATHER THAN A DIRECT THREAT TO SARAJEVO...HE GAVE ME EVERY ASSURANCE AND INDEED I'VE SEEN THE OPERATION ORDER WRITTEN BY THE CHIEF OF STAFF OF THEIR ARMY, GENERAL MILLRANOVIC (PHONETIC), THAT THEY WOULD INDEED MOVE THOSE WEAPONS..A NUMBER OF THOSE THOSE WEAPONS..A NUMBER OF THOSE WEAPONS TO MY KNOWLEDGE HAVE BEEN REMOVED, AND I BELIEVE THEY HAD THE INTENT TO DO THIS AND WE ARE TO START A PROGRAMME OF VERIFICATION TOMORROW." (FILE) MOUNT ZUC, SARAJEVO, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA (FEBRUARY 17, 1994) (AGENCY POOL) SLV BOSNIAN SERB TANKS BEING MANOEUVERED IN SNOW (2 SHOTS) 1.27 (FILE) SARAJEVO, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA (FEBRUARY 17, 1994) (AGENCY POOL) SV ANTI-AIRCRAFT WEAPONS AND MORTARS WHICH WERE HANDED IN BY BOSNIAN GOVERNMENT FORCES TO UKRAINIAN UNITED NATIONS SOLDIERS AT THE MARSHALL TITO BARRACKS (4 SHOTS) 1.39 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
  • Embargoed: 6th October 1994 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: MOSCOW, RUSSIA/ SARAJEVO, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
  • City:
  • Country: Russian Federation Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Topics: Conflict,General,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA9HVR8IRBX140JUBK0WC8C39DU
  • Story Text: United Nations (U.N.) peacekeepers planned to monitor Sarajevo's heavy weapons exclusion zone on Thursday (September 22) to ensure Bosnian Serbs had lived up to a pledge to withdraw banned guns from the surrounding hills.
    Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev said on Thursday that President Boris Yeltsin would hold frank discussions on Bosnia with United States (U.S.) President Bill Clinton when they meet in Washington D.C. next week.
    "I don't think we need to dramatise things," Kozyrev said. "I'm simply saying these high level talks will be carried out by having concrete and serious substance." At stake is whether the arms embargo is lifted or not. Russia maintains that lifting the embargo will be "the end of the political process, a recognition of failure and gives the green light to a military settling of things with Croatia." The U.N. commander in Bosnia, Lieutenant-General Sir Michael Rose, expressed confidence that Bosnian Serb forces were moving heavy weapons out of the 20 kilometre (12 mile) exclusion zone as promised.
    Rose said on Wednesday the Serbs had agreed to remove six confirmed and 12 suspected weapons from the area by midnight on Wednesday.
    He said a number of weapons had already been removed and peacekeeping troops would scour the exclusion zone to try to verify that the Serbs have honored their commitment.
    In February, Bosnian Serbs began a major withdrawal of heavy guns from around Sarajevo in response to a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) threats of air strikes. Bosnian government forces also handed in anti-aircraft weapons and mortars at the city's Marshall Tito barracks.
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