Post by tito on Apr 26, 2009 7:18:59 GMT -5
With nearly two-thirds of this newly independent country already occupied by Serbian nationalists who have proclaimed their own republic, Croatian nationalists have delivered a major blow to the Bosnian Government by declaring their own independent state on the remaining third of the territory.
The move on Friday by this group of Croats, who are Bosnian citizens with strong links to the Government of the neighboring state of Croatia, has come at the worst possible time for the Government of President Alija Izetbegovic. With Serbian forces surrounding the capital, Sarajevo, Mr. Izetbegovic has been left in effective control of only the heart of Sarajevo and a few provincial towns, the most important of which is the industrial center Tuzla, also besieged by Serbian forces, about 50 miles north of here.
If sustained, the proclamation of an independent Croatian republic within the borders of Bosnia and Herzegovina, coupled with the declaration of a Serbian republic by Serbian nationalists in May, would mean the effective partitioning of this country between groups whose eventual aim is to annex portions of the republic to Croatia and Serbia. The main losers would be the Muslims.
The Muslims, descendants of people who adopted the faith during four centuries of rule by the Ottoman Turks, have already suffered huge losses in the three-month war launched by the Serbian nationalists, with as many as 50,000 people killed and wide swaths of property destroyed.
The Serbs' campaign of "ethnic cleansing" has driven nearly half a million Muslims from their traditional stronghold in eastern Bosnia, and the new Croatian republic would make them a minority in the southern, western and northeastern regions. The Croats make up 17 percent of the population of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
As many Muslim Slavs have feared since the Yugoslav federation began to disintegrate last year, the division of Bosnia and Herzegovina between Serbs and Croats would be the end of the Muslims' hope of being the dominant partners in the state. It would also raise more fundamental questions about the Muslims' survival.
"Does this mean the end of us as a people?" asked one senior Bosnian Government official after an emergency meeting called here to discuss the proclamation of the Croatian republic.
Also cast as a loser, if Croatian moderates are unable to reverse the proclamation, would be the large numbers of Bosnian Serbs and Croats who hoped that a multi-ethnic democracy might somehow survive the war -- a partnership patterned after Sarajevo itself, where Muslims, Serbs and Croats are living intermingled under siege.
Both the Serbian and Croatian republics declared by the nationalists in Bosnia and Herzegovina have adopted laws intended to make them preserves of the dominant local group, with powers to punish other groups. Reputed to Be Arms Dealer
The Croatian leader who declared the new Croatian republic to be called the Community of Herzeg-Bosnia, is Mate Boban. Mr. Boban, in his early 50's, is a businessman who senior Bosnian officials said had made millions of dollars as a weapons supplier to Croatian forces during the fighting between Croatia and Serbia last year.
In declaring the new republic, Mr. Boban is widely thought to have acted as an agent of Franjo Tudjman, the President of Croatia, who has made no secret of Croatia's territorial ambitions in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Mr. Tudjman has taken the view that Muslims here are Croats, a contention that many Muslims dispute.
Last fall, Mr. Tudjman met in Serbia with the Serbian President, Slobodan Milosevic, and officials of the two governments let it be known that an understanding had been reached on the partitioning of Bosina and Herzegovina.
After Bosina and Herzegovina's independence was formally recognized by the United States and the 12-nation European Community in early April, partitioning was impeded by a fear of international repercussions. But Serbia went ahead with a military offensive here, attributing responsibility to the Bosnian Serbs, and Croatia dispatched its regular army to support Bosnian Croats in their battles with Serbian forces, particularly in southwestern and northeastern parts of the republic.
Mr. Boban emerged as the leader of a 30,000-man army of Croats and Muslims called the Croatian Defense Council, armed and trained by Croatia.
Because the Croats were fighting the Serbian nationalists, who were viewed as the main threat to the Muslims, Mr. Izetbegovic, the Bosnian President, announced as recently as a month ago that he had worked out an understanding with Mr. Tudjman under which the Croatian Army was fighting on Bosnian territory with Bosnian permission.
But behind the scenes, the Bosnian President, who is a Muslim, was coming under intense pressure from Mr. Tudjman and associates in his own Government who wanted him to commit Bosnia and Herzegovina to joining a confederation with Croatia.
This would place 1.9 million Muslims from Bosnia in a nation in which there would be nearly six million Croats, who are overwhelmingly Roman Catholic. It would also complicate, if not permanently block, a reconciliation between Muslims and Serbs that might open the way for the return of hundreds of thousands of Muslim refugees to their homes along the Drina River valley in eastern Bosnia, from which they have been driven by Serbian forces.
For those and other reasons, Mr. Izetbegovic has resisted the pressure from Croatia. But about two weeks ago, he received what amounted to an ultimatum from Mr. Boban: if he did not join with Mr. Tudjman, the Croatian President, in proclaiming a confederation, the Croatian forces here would not come to the aid of Sarajevo from strongholds as close as 25 miles away.
Mr. Boban's troops are more numerous and better equipped than the Bosnian Government's defense forces. Unlike the Government forces, they have lots of tanks and other heavy armor.
For two months, Mr. Boban increased the pressure by blocking deliveries of arms that the Sarajevo Government, working around a United Nations embargo on all weapons shipments to the former Yugoslavia, had secretly bought. Last week he seized 38 truckloads of weapons and ammunition about 40 miles northwest of here that had been traveling toward Sarajevo. Military officials have said that Sarajevo's defenses will collapse in a matter of weeks without fresh ammunition. 80 Miles by 70 Miles
The territory claimed by Mr. Boban for the new Croatian state is composed primarily of a region about 80 miles deep and up to 70 miles wide that includes most of Herzegovina, along the western and southern flank of this republic, and additional areas, including a section of Sarajevo called Stup.
The new state also claims the Posavina region in northeastern Bosnia, adjacent to Croatia. Both regions include towns and villages where Muslims and Serbs are in a majority.
A Croat who is Vice President in the Bosnian Government, Stjepan Klujic, has rejected the new Croatian state, as has Jerko Doko, the Bosnian Defense Minister, who is also a Croat.
Published: Monday, July 6, 1992
The move on Friday by this group of Croats, who are Bosnian citizens with strong links to the Government of the neighboring state of Croatia, has come at the worst possible time for the Government of President Alija Izetbegovic. With Serbian forces surrounding the capital, Sarajevo, Mr. Izetbegovic has been left in effective control of only the heart of Sarajevo and a few provincial towns, the most important of which is the industrial center Tuzla, also besieged by Serbian forces, about 50 miles north of here.
If sustained, the proclamation of an independent Croatian republic within the borders of Bosnia and Herzegovina, coupled with the declaration of a Serbian republic by Serbian nationalists in May, would mean the effective partitioning of this country between groups whose eventual aim is to annex portions of the republic to Croatia and Serbia. The main losers would be the Muslims.
The Muslims, descendants of people who adopted the faith during four centuries of rule by the Ottoman Turks, have already suffered huge losses in the three-month war launched by the Serbian nationalists, with as many as 50,000 people killed and wide swaths of property destroyed.
The Serbs' campaign of "ethnic cleansing" has driven nearly half a million Muslims from their traditional stronghold in eastern Bosnia, and the new Croatian republic would make them a minority in the southern, western and northeastern regions. The Croats make up 17 percent of the population of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
As many Muslim Slavs have feared since the Yugoslav federation began to disintegrate last year, the division of Bosnia and Herzegovina between Serbs and Croats would be the end of the Muslims' hope of being the dominant partners in the state. It would also raise more fundamental questions about the Muslims' survival.
"Does this mean the end of us as a people?" asked one senior Bosnian Government official after an emergency meeting called here to discuss the proclamation of the Croatian republic.
Also cast as a loser, if Croatian moderates are unable to reverse the proclamation, would be the large numbers of Bosnian Serbs and Croats who hoped that a multi-ethnic democracy might somehow survive the war -- a partnership patterned after Sarajevo itself, where Muslims, Serbs and Croats are living intermingled under siege.
Both the Serbian and Croatian republics declared by the nationalists in Bosnia and Herzegovina have adopted laws intended to make them preserves of the dominant local group, with powers to punish other groups. Reputed to Be Arms Dealer
The Croatian leader who declared the new Croatian republic to be called the Community of Herzeg-Bosnia, is Mate Boban. Mr. Boban, in his early 50's, is a businessman who senior Bosnian officials said had made millions of dollars as a weapons supplier to Croatian forces during the fighting between Croatia and Serbia last year.
In declaring the new republic, Mr. Boban is widely thought to have acted as an agent of Franjo Tudjman, the President of Croatia, who has made no secret of Croatia's territorial ambitions in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Mr. Tudjman has taken the view that Muslims here are Croats, a contention that many Muslims dispute.
Last fall, Mr. Tudjman met in Serbia with the Serbian President, Slobodan Milosevic, and officials of the two governments let it be known that an understanding had been reached on the partitioning of Bosina and Herzegovina.
After Bosina and Herzegovina's independence was formally recognized by the United States and the 12-nation European Community in early April, partitioning was impeded by a fear of international repercussions. But Serbia went ahead with a military offensive here, attributing responsibility to the Bosnian Serbs, and Croatia dispatched its regular army to support Bosnian Croats in their battles with Serbian forces, particularly in southwestern and northeastern parts of the republic.
Mr. Boban emerged as the leader of a 30,000-man army of Croats and Muslims called the Croatian Defense Council, armed and trained by Croatia.
Because the Croats were fighting the Serbian nationalists, who were viewed as the main threat to the Muslims, Mr. Izetbegovic, the Bosnian President, announced as recently as a month ago that he had worked out an understanding with Mr. Tudjman under which the Croatian Army was fighting on Bosnian territory with Bosnian permission.
But behind the scenes, the Bosnian President, who is a Muslim, was coming under intense pressure from Mr. Tudjman and associates in his own Government who wanted him to commit Bosnia and Herzegovina to joining a confederation with Croatia.
This would place 1.9 million Muslims from Bosnia in a nation in which there would be nearly six million Croats, who are overwhelmingly Roman Catholic. It would also complicate, if not permanently block, a reconciliation between Muslims and Serbs that might open the way for the return of hundreds of thousands of Muslim refugees to their homes along the Drina River valley in eastern Bosnia, from which they have been driven by Serbian forces.
For those and other reasons, Mr. Izetbegovic has resisted the pressure from Croatia. But about two weeks ago, he received what amounted to an ultimatum from Mr. Boban: if he did not join with Mr. Tudjman, the Croatian President, in proclaiming a confederation, the Croatian forces here would not come to the aid of Sarajevo from strongholds as close as 25 miles away.
Mr. Boban's troops are more numerous and better equipped than the Bosnian Government's defense forces. Unlike the Government forces, they have lots of tanks and other heavy armor.
For two months, Mr. Boban increased the pressure by blocking deliveries of arms that the Sarajevo Government, working around a United Nations embargo on all weapons shipments to the former Yugoslavia, had secretly bought. Last week he seized 38 truckloads of weapons and ammunition about 40 miles northwest of here that had been traveling toward Sarajevo. Military officials have said that Sarajevo's defenses will collapse in a matter of weeks without fresh ammunition. 80 Miles by 70 Miles
The territory claimed by Mr. Boban for the new Croatian state is composed primarily of a region about 80 miles deep and up to 70 miles wide that includes most of Herzegovina, along the western and southern flank of this republic, and additional areas, including a section of Sarajevo called Stup.
The new state also claims the Posavina region in northeastern Bosnia, adjacent to Croatia. Both regions include towns and villages where Muslims and Serbs are in a majority.
A Croat who is Vice President in the Bosnian Government, Stjepan Klujic, has rejected the new Croatian state, as has Jerko Doko, the Bosnian Defense Minister, who is also a Croat.
Published: Monday, July 6, 1992