October 18, 1995
Web posted at: 12:45 p.m. EDT (1645 GMT)
From Correspondent Christiane Amanpour
GORAZDE, Bosnia-Herzegovina (CNN) -- Throughout the Bosnian civil war, rebel Serb forces have regularly stopped food convoys heading to isolated, government-controlled Gorazde. But there was something different Tuesday. For the first time in more than three years of fighting, United Nations vehicles drove straight past Serb checkpoints. Journalists, who have not been allowed into Gorazde for nearly a year, went along.
The United Nations is slowly trying to loosen the Serb screws
on civilians trapped in besieged towns such as Gorazde, the
last remaining Muslim enclave in eastern Bosnia. As soon as
the convoy arrived, it was mobbed by children who have little
to look forward to but the sweets and food they can scrounge
off soldiers. (800K QuickTime movie)
As part of the cease-fire agreement the Bosnian government
demanded free road access from Gorazde to Sarajevo. Now that
the United Nations has made Tuesday's symbolic test run, it
remains to be seen whether a road will be opened permanently.
Civilians have been stuck in Gorazde, population 60,000,
since the war began. A visiting U.N. official, Mark Cutts,
promises change. "There will be freedom of movement for
civilians in Gorazde," he told local leaders.
As conditions slowly improve in other parts of Bosnia,
Gorazde still holds the distinction of being the worst off,
exhausted by years under siege with relentless shelling.
There still is no electricity, meaning people must saw and
stack wood for what they know will be another freezing
winter.
The river through town is a maze of waterwheels that generate for their owners a few volts of hydroelectric power, enough to run a light and a radio. Food is scarce. Everyone depends entirely on humanitarian aid. Journalists asked about a calf they saw and were told it would soon be slaughtered. But it is meat that would go only to those who could afford it. "It's very difficult," one mother told CNN. "I have two babies and I don't have any milk." It's not unusual to see sickly children in Gorazde with sores on their faces because of the lack of vitamins.
Despite talk of peace in Bosnia, evidence of war is all
around. A father and two children lie in a hospital ward,
wounded two weeks earlier by a shell that killed the mother
of the family. The few doctors are exhausted physically and
mentally. "It's a big pressure seeing your neighbors and
relatives dying," said one.
There is a cease-fire now, but the people of Gorazde aren't taking too many chances. Under the main bridge in town, residents still walk on a small one they built so they would be protected from shells and snipers.
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