February 24, 1996
Web posted at: 4:45 p.m. EST (2145 GMT)
From Correspondent Brent Sadler
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (CNN) -- The NATO military commander in Bosnia-Herzegovina decided Saturday to allow Bosnian Serb army vehicles help evacuate Serbs from Sarajevo.
NATO commander Adm. Leighton Smith's decision came after he and Bosnian Serb parliament president Momcilo Krajisnik toured the five suburbs from which Serbs are fleeing. Those Serb communities will fall under the control of the Muslim-Croat Federation by mid-March. What Smith saw was deep resentment.
In Vogosca, which already is under the control of federation police, Serb resentment boiled over. It happened when the district's former Muslim mayor walked into a raucous public meeting where peace coordinator Carl Bildt was struggling to convince the Serbs of the merits of the international peace plan.
While Bildt urged his audience to stay in Sarajevo, the angry Serbs would hear none of it. Desperate to leave what they fear could be retaliation over the four year Bosnian war, Serbs demanded trucks to help them move.
The NATO chief heard their call, acknowledging that more must be done to ease the humanitarian crisis. (77K AIFF sound or 77K WAV sound)
The Bosnian Serbs can use military trucks under IFOR escort to evacuate the Serbs. The move risks fierce criticism of any IFOR participation in the shift of population.
But Smith said because "these people obviously have taken the choice to leave," IFOR should make the way easier. "We're merely trying to resolve the problem and if we don't get it resolved there is going to be a lot of people that are hurt," said Smith.
"I'm desperate ... I'll never come back."
-- Slobodan Matsanovic, Serb
In the suburb of Ilidzas, Smith and Krajisnik saw more families in the process of leaving town.
Slobodan Matsanovic was tearing his home apart leaving nothing of any use behind. He has lived in Ilidzas for more than 50 years, but with tears rolling down his cheeks, he said it is impossible for him to stay.
Ilidzas is the next Serb district to change police status. It should happen next week.
United Nations officials say as many as 20,000 of 70,000 Serbs in the Sarajevo suburbs have fled to Serb-controlled territory.
Copyright © 1996 Cable News Network, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive
