VIEWPOINT FROM LONDON

THE SARAJEVO-BELGRADE DEAL

by Brian Gallagher

The Croatian Herald, Australia No. 974 - 11 July 2003

 

Did the government of Bosnia-Herzegovina support Belgrade during the Serbian invasion of Croatia in 1991? This is a question worth looking at especially in light of a new history of the Muslim-Croat war by American military historian Charles R Shrader. It is being publicised as reaching 'uncomfortable' conclusions. These conclusions are that Croats were outgunned and on the defensive in that conflict; not a view that will not go down well in some circles. Given such re-assessment, it is worth looking at Sarajevo's behaviour towards Croatia in 1991.

Much is made of the alleged deal between Franjo Tudjman and Slobodan Milosevic to partition Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH). In their noted history "The Death of Yugoslavia", the authors Laura Silber and Allan Little make the rational point that this agreement did not last long, as the Serbs made their move against Croatia shortly after it. This alleged agreement is much aired, especially in regard to the Muslim-Croat war. It no doubt serves the purposes of many in different ways such as the international community, the Serbs, some Croatian politicians, and for obvious reasons the Bosnian government of the time.

It is in Silber/Little's work that we find some disturbing facts about the behaviour of the then Sarajevo government that the publicity around the alleged Milosevic/Tudjman deal has helped obscure. Tudjman had put feelers out to BiH President Izetbegovic's government via its Croat members about opening a second front against the Serbs using the BiH Territorial Defence forces (TO). However, pro-Belgrade Bosniak Interior Minister Alija Delimustafic had already placed the BiH TO on Belgrade's side. He agreed to allow the Yugoslav Army (JNA) to use BiH as a command base to attack Croatia. JNA General Kadijevic agreed with the Bosnian leadership to set up joint patrols.

This help was highly significant. Silber/Little quote no less a figure than JNA counter-intelligence chief Aleksander Vasiljevic on the matter. He states how joint Bosnian/JNA patrols and checkpoints were set up prevent armed movements by paramilitaries and to facilitate for JNA movements. BiH was needed to get the JNA to Knin in Croatia. Vasiljevic clearly thinks that Bosnian help to the JNA was instrumental: "If they had not got through we would never have been able to fight. Bosnia was our corridor to Krajina (occupied Croatia)".

This obviously reflects on Delimustafic's boss, President Izetbegovic. Izetbegovic respected and feared the JNA, praising it at one point as a "stabilising effect" in BiH - blaming reservists for trouble. He had agreed with Kadijevic to joint Bosnian/JNA patrols.

Indeed, when there were murders of muslims by Serbs in the town of Bijeljina in 1992, Izetbegovic - under pressure - invited in the JNA to the town. This, despite the JNA slaughter of Croats in Croatia. Furthermore, the JNA had the previous year attacked and destroyed the the Bosnian Croat town of Ravno. The JNA had already shown aggression towards BiH yet Izetbevovic invited them to Biljeljna. The non-Serb population was swiftly ethnically cleansed. Little wonder that many Bosnian Croats did not trust Sarajevo.

Silber/Little shy away from the implications of the agreements with Belgrade. But it is fairly clear from this that Sarajevo supported Serbian aggression against Croatia, prior to the Serbs all-out attack on BiH. This needs more exploration, especially given the high profile claims regarding Croatia's role in BiH during the war.

This matter should not detract from the reality of Serbian aggression against BiH, nor does it mitigate any Croat atrocities committed against Muslims. Nor indeed should it detract from many Bosniaks who supported Croatia. But Sarajevo's role in supporting Belgrades criminal enterprise against Croatia in 1991 is a matter that is long overdue for proper examination.

 

*For those interested, Charles R Shrader's "The Muslim-Croat Civil War in Bosnia : A Military History" should be available this month, published by Texas A&M University Press Consortium ; ISBN: 1585442615

© Brian Gallagher

My 'Viewpoint from London' column appears fortnightly in the Australian 'Croatian Herald'.