January 3, 1996
Web posted at: 10:45 p.m. EST (0345 GMT)
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of Defense William Perry hopscotched around Bosnia on Wednesday to gauge the progress of the two-week-old NATO-led peacekeeping mission and said an unresolved dispute over civilians detained by Serbs "is not why NATO is here."
But the United States took a more rigid stance on the situation, condemning the holding of at least 16 civilians by Sarajevo Serbs. (Statement by Perry as 102K AIFF sound or 102K WAV sound)
The Bosnian government said 16 people were seized while crossing the Serb-dominated suburb of Ilidza. Ilidza Mayor Nedjeljko Prstojevic would not say how many people were being detained, but said that they included Muslims, Croats and Serbs loyal to the Bosnian government.
Prstojevic said that although some detainees had been released, investigation procedures had begun against three persons. He charged that some had engaged "in illegal activities."
Serbs on Wednesday released three non-Serbs, a woman and two men, who were detained on New Year's Day.
The State Department said Wednesday it made its objections to the abductions known to Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, among others. It said that the detainments are a violation of the cornerstone of the Dayton peace accord.
"We're calling for their immediate release," said State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns. "We are making this known privately to the Bosnian Serb military commanders, and we're now making it known privately just in the next couple of hours to President Milosevic in Belgrade, and we very much expect that this call for the immediate release of these people will be met."
Burns made the announcement after Bosnian Serbs ignored earlier requests by Washington for the release of those held. Burns did not say what would happened if the 16 were not released.
Carl Bildt, the top civilian peace accord administrator, said the 2,000-strong international police force that is supposed to be in place by January 31 cannot force the Bosnian people to respect the accord. "The responsibility is mainly on the parties. It's their peace agreement, not ours," Bildt said. But he added, "Freedom of movement will have to be guaranteed one way or another."
Bildt said that it would take time to recruit the international police force. Only 100 members of the force are in Bosnia.
Perry said at a news conference in Tuzla that he heard no complaints against NATO during a meeting earlier in the day with Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovia and Prime Minister Haris Silajdzic. Asked about the detainee issue, Perry called it a law enforcement problem that illustrates "the fact that we do not have established a strong police force ... which is several weeks away from being set up."
He praised all the warring parties for complying with the peace agreement and cooperating with IFOR, the international peace implementation force. (408K AIFF sound or 408K WAV sound) As an example, he cited assistance in helping NATO troops find and remove land mines. (230K AIFF sound or 230K WAV sound)
"All of the former warring parties are complying with the peace agreement ..."
-- U.S. Defense Secretary William Perry
Tuzla is the headquarters of the U.S. sector in the international peacekeeping operation. Perry made a short hop by helicopter to the floating bridge constructed by Army engineers over the Sava River to carry the bulk of U.S. forces south from Croatia into Bosnia.
Two helicopters hovered overhead as Perry, dressed in body armor and military uniform, walked across the bridge, beginning on the Croatian side. He was accompanied by America's top general, John Shalikashvili, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the NATO commander in Europe, U.S. Gen. George Joulwan.
"It's my third attempt to get here," Perry had said earlier, upon his arrival in Sarajevo. "I made it this time and I think that's symbolic of a real difference in Sarajevo now. We've got peace breaking out. I'm very optimistic that this is the beginning of a new era."
In previous attempts to visit, the Pentagon chief was stymied once by bad weather and once by gunfire that closed the airport.
Gunfire remains a problem. NATO officials recently counted roughly 400 "firing incidents" per day in Sarajevo. An "incident" is defined as five or more shots. Perry and his entourage donned flak jackets and helmets at the Sarajevo airport and rode in armored vehicles, along with senior U.S. military officers.
In the same Sarajevo suburb where the detainee issue has produced friction, two British soldiers were injured Wednesday when they stumbled on a mine or unexploded shell. Their injuries were not considered life-threatening, a NATO spokesman said.
They were injured as they worked in a hotel complex in Ilidza that is being converted for use as a headquarters for NATO's Rapid Reaction Corps. They were being treated at a French military field hospital.
The first U.S. casualty of the peace mission arrived in Germany on Wednesday for further medical treatment. Specialist Martin John Begosh of Rockville, Maryland, was transferred to a U.S. military hospital after being flown to the Ramstein air base from Hungary. Begosh suffered a fractured ankle and shrapnel in his leg when his vehicle ran over a land mine south of the Sava River on Saturday.
Begosh, who received a Purple Heart medal for his injury, arrived in Hungary from Croatia by road on Tuesday afternoon.
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