Bosnia: Muslims 'wanted to provoke foreign intervention'
The Hague, 7 May (AKI) – A prosecution witness at the trial of wartime Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic on Friday blamed Bosnian Serb forces for indiscriminately shelling the capital, Sarajevo, during the 1992-1995 war. The witness, David Harland, who worked for UN mission in Sarajevo (UNPROFOR) from 1993-1995, accused Serb forces of carrying out “widespread and coordinated” ethnic cleansing of non-Serbs from the territories they controlled. Karadzic has been charged by the Hague-based UN war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia on two counts of genocide and nine counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed by forces under his command during Bosnian war. Cross-examined by Karadzic, Harland said Muslim leaders hadn’t allowed civilians to leave besieged Sarajevo, because it would contribute to ethnic cleansing. Asked by Karadzic whether Muslims were sacrificing their own people to trigger intervention by NATO and western powers, Harland said it was partly true. “There were people (in Muslim leadership) who believed that NATO would not intervene if the situation wasn’t very grave and that the presence of civilians on battlefield would shock the public and force NATO to intervene,” Harland said. Asked whether Muslims staged the two bombings at Sarajevo market place Markale, for the same purpose, in which more than 100 people were killed, Harland said it was out of question. He said weapons were being smuggled into Sarajevo through an underground tunnel and Muslims were firing at Serb positions from the city. “But Sarajevo was under siege and a great majority of victims were killed by fire from Serb positions,” Harland said. “The Muslim side was blowing out of proportions the suffering of population, and the Serbian side was minimising it,” Harland said. Harland was the sixth of 410 prosecution witnesses to be presented at the trial expected to last several years. Cross-examination of Harland resumes on Monday. http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Politics/?id=3.1.358621024
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