Rampant Serbs push UN aside (original) (raw)

Serbian forces swept through eastern Bosnia last night, overrunning the UN safe haven of Srebrenica , putting tens of thousands of civilians to flight and moving rapidly to seize more UN-protected territory.

The lightning offensive dealt a possibly terminal blow to the beleaguered UN mission in Bosnia, which had pledged to protect the safe havens for Bosnian civilians.

Bosnian Serb television, announcing the 'liberation' of Srebrenica , promptly called for the surrender of Zepa, a second Muslim enclave, and announced that its capitulation was expected. A third safe haven, Gorazde, was also under threat.

The Serbian forces shrugged off Nato air strikes and UN warnings to overrun the east Bosnian town - the first to be declared a haven. Last night the Serbs declared they had formed a new civilian administration for Srebrenica .

UN sources said some 27,000 Bosnians braved Serbian snipers and shells to seek sanctuary at the main base of the Dutch UN battalion north of the town, as up to 1,500 Serbs smashed through Srebrenica 's defences for the first time in the 40-month war.

An official in Washington said the Serbs had released all 30 Dutch troops taken hostage before they overran Srebrenica . The 430 Dutch peacekeepers had moved north to the town of Potocari. Up to 10,000 Muslims from Srebrenica had apparently fled with them.

'They (the Dutch troops) are not being attacked . . . They are still in Serb territory and still surrounded by Serbs,' he said. 'There was a report that the Dutch commander turned himself in to the Serbs in order to win freedom for his troops and that did, in fact, happen.'

The UN Security Council was meeting in emergency session last night. France, Britain and Germany were sponsoring a resolution condemning the Bosnian Serb assault and calling on the UN Protection Force to use the means at its disposal to restore Srebrenica 's status and the UN presence.

The French president, Jacques Chirac, offered to send French troops to recapture the safe haven if asked to do so by the UN - remarks more resembling a hasty soundbite than a considered policy statement.

The emergency recalled the worst days of the Bosnian war in 1992, with its columns of 'ethnic cleansing' victims, and dealt perhaps a terminal blow to the UN mission. Srebrenica 's fall will be seen as a powerful indictment of the UN.

'A disaster of major proportions with far-reaching consequences,' said the Dutch defence minister, Joris Voorhoeve. His US counterpart, William Perry, said: 'This raises the question as to whether the UN force will be able to stay in Bosnia.'

The UN Secretary-General, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, said the task in Bosnia was 'mission impossible' and, while he opposed withdrawal, he could envisage the international community allowing the Bosniain capital, Sarajevo, to fall into Serbian hands.

While the Bosnian army offered scant resistance to the five-day Serbian onslaught, international relief workers warned of the impending humanitarian emergency.

'It is a massive exodus,' said Stephan Oberreit of the Medecins Sans Frontieres, who reported that two of his colleagues in the town had helped evacuate 65 wounded from the town hospital.

Ron Redmond of the UN relief agency, UNHCR, said: 'We could be faced with a movement of up to 40,000 people . . . Most of the town is deserted. There's a lot of sniper and small arms fire. The hospital has been evacuated.'

UN officials called in Nato aircraft against the Serbs after Dutch peacekeepers were repeatedly attacked. Nato fighters reportedly targeted two Serbian tanks, although there were conflicting reports as to whether they were hit. Rather than being deterred, the Serbs drove forward with tanks, infantry and heavy artillery.

The Bosnian prime minister, Haris Silajdzic, blamed the UN and Nato for doing too little too late to protect Srebrenica , but UN officials made it plain they saw it as indefensible and were only too keen to get out.

Yasushi Akashi, head of the UN mission, was last night meeting his senior officials, debating his next options.

The Srebrenica tragedy crowns the worst two months of the UN's mission. Nato air strikes against the Serbs outside Sarajevo in May prompted the Serbs to take almost 400 UN hostages and shoot down a US pilot in revenge. They have taunted the UN by shelling its headquarters in Sarajevo, tightening the Sarajevo siege, blocking aid supplies and firing at international mediators.