February 7, 1996
Web posted at: 6:15 p.m. EST (2315 GMT)
SARAJEVO (CNN) -- The Dayton peace accord became increasingly fragile Wednesday as international officials questioned Serb soldiers about war crimes and Croat-Muslim tensions in Mostar intensified.
The International War Crimes Tribunal at the Hague issued provisional arrest warrants for two Bosnian Serb officers on suspicion of war crimes. The men were identified as Gen. Djordje Djukic, who ran the rebel Serbs' logistics operations, and his deputy, Col. Aleksa Krmanovic.
Officials from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia flew into the Bosnian capital after top prosecutor Richard Goldstone asked authorities to take all measures to prevent the escape of the two officers.
Their arrest January 30 by Bosnian police, and the detention of six other Serb troops also suspected of war crimes, prompted the Serbs Tuesday to sever ties with Bosnia's Muslim-Croat federation, pending their release.
IFOR, the NATO-led peace Implementation Force, urged the Serbs, who object to the arrest, not to retaliate.
In other Bosnia news, a Red Cross official said Wednesday that at least 3,000 Bosnian Muslims were killed when Serb forces invaded Srebrenica, then a United Nations safe haven, last July.
"I am convinced that these people are not alive," said Jean de Courten, head of operations at the International Committee of the Red Cross.
De Courten said he based his estimates of the dead on numerous interviews conducted by the Red Cross with people who managed to flee the enclave as well as information supplied by humanitarian organizations and governments.
He said the reports reinforced his suspicion of mass murders. De Courten also said about 5,000 others were still missing.
His statement follows visits to the area in recent weeks by international human rights officials, including John Shattuck, U.S. assistant secretary of state for human rights.
After touring the area, Shattuck said there was "clear evidence" that thousands of Muslim civilians had been murdered in the Srebrenica enclave.
Up to 8,000 Muslims, mainly men of draft age, have remained unaccounted for since the Srebrenica was captured. Recently some corpses have been unearthed from mass graves.
"We cannot declare them all dead. We are going to find a certain number, but we must not raise false hopes among the families," de Courten said.
Elsewhere, in Mostar, Croats ransacked the European Union offices Wednesday after an EU administrator, hoping to ease tensions between local Croats and Muslims, tried to enforce new boundaries.
As EU administrator Hans Koschnick left a press conference, some 300 protesters surrounded his car, chanting "Hang him! Kill him!" (340K QuickTime movie)
Demonstrators jumped on the car, then forced their way into the Hotel Ero, where EU headquarters is based in Mostar. They then stormed Koschnick's office. Gunfire could be heard during the outburst as Croat police officers watched without intervening, said UE spokesman Dragen Gasic in Mostar.
There were no immediate reports of injuries.
The Croats were protesting EU plans announced by Koschnick to redraw the boundaries of Mostar districts, which include a proposed common Croat-Muslim area in addition to separate areas for each. Koschnick was previously the target of an assassination attempt at the EU headquarters.
In Brussels, NATO appealed to Croats to cease the attacks, which a NATO official described as "deplorable."
"This is not the way to solve Mostar's problems," the official said, adding that NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana would travel to Mostar on Monday to give Koschnick his support. EU spokesman Gasic has reported conditions have calmed down.
In another Bosnia-related development, Lenny Esposito, a spokesman for IFOR, said the first U.S. soldier killed in Bosnia sustained massive head injuries as a result of an explosion in a mine field.
Esposito added that a "deliberate and thorough" investigation was continuing to establish what caused the explosion.
U.S. Defense Secretary William Perry, however, said the death of 1st Sgt. Donald Dugan Saturday was not the result of a mine accident.
"We've been there now for almost seven weeks and we have not had a fatality from a person stepping on or a vehicle going over a mine," Perry said.
Reuters contributed to this report.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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