From: benali@alcor.concordia.ca ( ILYESS B. BDIRA )
Subject: Bosnian war taking a strategic turn, Bosnians call Europe's Bluff.
Keywords: international, non-usa government, government, fighting, 	united nations, civil rights, social issues
Nntp-Posting-Host: alcor.concordia.ca
Organization: Concordia University, Montreal, Canada
Lines: 59

clarinews@clarinet.com (J.T. NGUYEN) writes:

>	UNITED NATIONS (UPI) -- The Muslim-dominated government in Bosnia-
>Herzegovina asked the U.N. Security Council Tuesday to withdraw all U.N.
>personnel from Bosnian territory as a first step toward lifting the
>international arms embargo against the former Yugoslav republic.
>	The Bosnian government, saying the presence of U.N. personnel had
>become ``an impediment to critical decisions by the international
>community,'' indicated the withdrawal of the peacekeepers and relief
>workers would persuade Western governments to lift the arms embargo so
>Muslims could defend themselves against Bosnian Serbs.

>	The Security Council imposed the arms embargo on the whole of the
>former Yugoslavia in 1991 when fighting erupted between Serb

The imposed it knowing that Serbia has a stockpile of weapons, and that
Bosnia will have next to nothing to defend itself. Many experts predicted
a Massacre as early as March, 1992, but the Security Coucil knew what it
was doing.

.......
>	France and Britain have opposed U.S. proposals for military air
>strikes against Bosnian Serbs, saying such strong action would lead to
>retaliation against their troops and personnel.
....
>	The Bosnian move Tuesday was in part a bid to undermine the British
>and French opposition to military intervention based on fears for the
>safety of European peacekeeping troops and humanitarian personnel.
....
>	Silajdzic's ambassador to the United Nations, Mohamed Sacirbey, who
>conveyed the letter to the Security Council members, told reporters that
>the peacekeepers' mandate should be modified or they should withdraw.
...
>	He said if the Security Council refuses to accede to the request, his
>government will take ``another step.'' He did not elaborate on what
>other steps the government might take.
..
>	In his letter to the council, Silajdzic said President Clinton
>understood well the Muslims' ``commitment and desperate plight'' because
>the United States has been seeking support for lifting of the arms
>embargo.
>	Silajdzic said the international community has not realized that the
>war in Bosnia-Herzegovina was a ``war of fascist aggression'' and the
>maintenance of the arms embargo was an ``act of arrogant indifference to
>the fate of hundreds of thousands of loyal Bosnian citizens, who plead
>only for the right to defend themselves.''
>	``We beseech the Security Council to cease an arms embargo that has,
>in practice, constituted an international intervention against our
>legitimate rights as a member of the United Nations,'' Silajdzic said.

Now read this, Tim Clock &co.
>	The request to the Security Council took some members by surprise,
>even though the complaints have been aired by the Bosnian government for
>some time. The only allies the Muslims could find in the council are
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>non-aligned and Islamic countries, which have been calling for the
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>Muslims' right to self-defense, a provision enshrined in the U.N.
>Charter.