CNN Mission: Peace

U.N. authorizes NATO to enforce peace

December 15, 1995
Web Posted at: 8 p.m. EST (0100 GMT)

DAMAGED BUILDINGS

UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Friday night to authorize NATO to militarily enforce the Bosnian peace agreement signed Thursday in Paris. U.N. ambassadors hailed the agreement, calling on all parties to respect it.

The council had to act before NATO can assume the military takeover. Many soldiers from the U.N. force will simply take their blue helmets off and become part of the international force.

Meanwhile, sporadic fighting in parts of the former Yugoslavia marred the first day of peace in a region shattered by nearly four years of war.

Even as the treaty was being signed Thursday, explosions rocked a hotel in Sarajevo and several areas in and around the Bosnia capital. There were no casualties, but it was an indication that there is still opposition to the treaty.

helecopter

Six miles south of Sarajevo, the Bosnian army reportedly fired on a French U.N. helicopter. The helicopter made a forced landing but no one was injured.

In central Bosnian Reuters reported a clash between Croat militia and majahideen, Islamic forces from outside of Bosnia who are fighting for Bosnian Muslims. Bosnian sources reported casualties.

The violence came as NATO prepares to deploy 60,000 troops to Bosnia to maintain a cease-fire.

In an exclusive interview with CNN after the signing ceremony, U.S. President Bill Clinton downplayed the violence in Sarajevo, attributing the incidents to unique tensions between Bosnian Serbs and the Bosnian government there.

Still, the explosions rattled some residents of Sarajevo who might otherwise have found reason to celebrate the historic day.

"I was watching television," said one man who lives not far from a Holiday Inn that was fired on. "The peace signing ... there was an explosion, a crashing of windows. My family sheltered in the basement."

Early reports said the hotel had been hit by anti-aircraft shells, but officials later said it could not be determined what weapon was used.

Bosnian Prime Minister Haris Silajdzic was quick to place the blame squarely on the Bosnian Serbs.

"When peace in Paris is signed they throw bombs at it," he said. "We must deal with the Serb terrorists as one must deal with terrorists and that is decisively with determination and force." (204K AIFF sound or 204K WAV sound)

demonstrating youths

Although reports of violence were scattered, demonstrations in recent days in the Serb suburbs of Sarajevo that are to come under Bosnian government control have indicated that a true peace will not come easily. The Serb population has not been convinced that a Muslim-led Bosnian government will guarantee their safety after nearly four years of war and bloodshed.

Serbs voted almost unanimously in a referendum earlier this week to reject the portion of the Dayton peace plan that turns their districts over to the Bosnian government.

Bosnian Serb leaders, advised that the peace accord will not be changed under any circumstances, say they are now hoping to win an extension of a three-month transition period after which the Bosnian authorities will take over. United Nations officials, hoping to prevent a mass exodus of the Serb population, have spoken of a possible six-month interim period.

snow covered city and streets

In Tuzla, where U.S. troops are setting up headquarters, most missed the signing ceremony because snow has knocked out electric power. As word spread that the peace treaty had been signed, a few people fired shots into the air as a sign of celebration.

But it wasn't a day of celebrating for most people, their sense of relief blunted by the years of war. The glowing vision of peace that was praised in Paris has yet to be implemented across a country still raw with suspicion and emotion.

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