The photomontage, "Death on a Very Small Planet," has been redone with
more pictures and also rearranged and resized.

URL: http://www.emperors-clothes.com/1/rem.htm

Montage, Belgrade and New York. Dedicated to the innocent.

www.tenc.net

---

D�j� vu ... Reeds eerder gezien ...

Belgrado 1999________ New York 2001

http://www.ptb.be/international/WTC/Dijvu.htm

---

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LA GUERRA NEI BALCANI - DIECI ANNI DI DISTRUZIONE DELLA JUGOSLAVIA

Questo il titolo del libro di Hannes Hofbauer, appena ripubblicato in
Austria in una nuova edizione aggiornata.

---

Subject: Neuerscheinung des Buches "Balkankrieg - Zehn Jahre
Zerst�rung Jugoslawiens"
Date: Tue, 02 Oct 2001 18:11:49 +0200
From: joesb@...
Organization: JOeSB Aktuell



Das neue Buch von Dr. Hannes Hofbauer ist eine g�nzlich umgearbeitet und
erweiterte Auflage seines Buches "Balkankrieg - Die Zerst�rung
Jugoslawiens".

�ber die Jugoslawisch-�sterreichische Solidarit�tsbewegung kannst Du die
serbische Fassung dieses Buches bestellen.
�ber e-mail: joesb@... oder �ber den postalischen Weg:
J�SB, Postfach 217, A-1040 Wien,
Kennwort "Balkankrieg".


Hannes Hofbauer
BALKANKRIEG
Zehn Jahre Zerst�rung Jugoslawiens

ISBN 3-85371-179-0, 296 Seiten, br., 17,90 d; 35.- DM; 256.- �S; 32,50
sFr.; Edition Brennpunkt Osteuropa.

Der 24. M�rz 1999 markierte das Ende der europ�ischen Nachkriegszeit.
Mit dem Einsetzen der Bombardements gegen serbische und montenegrinische
St�dte durch die NATO eskalierte die Zerst�rung des ehedem
multinationalen und blockfreien Jugoslawien zur kriegerischen
Intervention. Hannes Hofbauer zeichnet die Trag�die am Balkan nach. Ein
Blick von au�en, weltsystemisch und historisch fundiert, soll dabei
helfen, die Nebel von Propaganda, die eine totale Verunsicherung in der
kritischen �ffentlichkeit im Westen bewirkt haben, zu l�ften. Nur so
k�nnen die Konturen der Interessenslagen deutscher und US-amerikanischer
Kriegstreiber nachgezeichnet und die ideologische Substanz der
scheinbaren Rechtfertigung, Bomben im Dienste von Menschenrechten und
Solidarit�t zu werfen, blo�gelegt werden.
Am Ende steht ein sozial und national aus dem Gleichgewicht geratener,
ein total zerst�rter Balkan.
Slowenien und Kroatien sind, letzteres nach der Vertreibung von 300.000
Serben aus der Krajina und aus Slawonien, ethnisch weitgehend
homogenisiert. Bosnien-Herzegowina nimmt die Position einer Kolonie der
Europ�ischen Union ein. Serbien und Montenegro sind durch die
NATO-Schl�ge ihrer �konomischen Struktur beraubt, verw�stet. Der Kosovo
erinnert eher an ein Bild nach dem 30j�hrigen Krieg denn an eine
europ�ische Region zu Beginn des 21. Jahrhunderts. Makedoniens
staatliche Lebensf�higkeit ist durch die Kampfbereitschaft albanischer
Separatisten in Zweifel gezogen. F�r die Ethnisierung sozialer und
�konomischer Probleme traten seit 1989 in allen Teilrepubliken und
Regionen verst�rkt nationalistisch argumentierende Protagonisten auf.
Zur Katastrophe dynamisiert hat sich dieses Ph�nomen allerdings erst
durch die Einmischung des Westens.
Nach dem Sturz von Slobodan Milosevic sind nun alle Republiken des
ehemaligen Jugoslawien zum Tummelplatz ausl�ndischer Milit�rs, Politiker
und NGO-Vertreter geworden. Den geopolitischen Interessen der USA
stehen die wirtschaftlichen Begierden des deutsch gef�hrten EU-Europa
gegen�ber. Die brennende Lunte f�r kriegerische Auseinandersetzungen am
Balkan d�rfte vor diesem Hintergrund auch in den kommenden Jahren
nicht zum Erl�schen kommen.
Ein eigenes Kapitel widmet Hannes Hofbauer den Konsequenzen des
Balkankrieges f�r die westeurop�ischen Gesellschaften. In Deutschland
und �sterreich ist �ber falsch verstandene Aufrufe zur "nationalen
Selbstbestimmung" sowie �ber blanke Desinformation und L�gen eine neue
Generation auf die politische B�hne getreten, die den Krieg als Mittel
der Konfliktaustragung akzeptiert hat. Die Rechtfertigung der
NATO-Aggression gegen Jugoslawien hat ehemalige Pazifisten der 1968er
Bewegung zu Kriegshetzern mutieren lassen. Wie ihre Gro�v�ter und ihre
V�ter stehen sie nun - in milit�rischer Montur - am Balkan, um
angebliche "europ�ische Werte" zu verteidigen.

Der Autor: Hannes Hofbauer, geboren 1955 in Wien, Historiker,
Journalist, Verleger. Seit mehr als zehn Jahren arbeitet er zur sozialen
und �konomischen Lage in Osteuropa. Von ihm ist zuletzt im
Promedia-Verlag erschienen: "Schlesien. Europ�isches Kernland im
Schatten von Wien, Berlin und Warschau"
(2000; gemeinsam mit Julian Bartosz).

�ber die erste Auflage dieses Buches schrieben und sendeten u.a.:

Die Zeitschrift "Konkret" im Dezember 1999: "Da� es auch anders geht,
zeigt wiederum ein ausl�ndischer Autor, n�mlich Hannes Hofbauer in dem
von ihm herausgegebenen Buch Balkankrieg. Der Wiener Journalist
zeichnet dort die Eskalation der letzten zehn Jahre nach und verbindet
enorme Sachkenntnis mit anschaulichen und konkreten Anektoten. Ein
bi�chen rasender Reporter � la Kisch, ein bi�chen historischer
Materialist � la Engels - mit anderen Worten: spannende Zeitgeschichte.

Der WDR/K�ln am 19.1.2000: "Ausf�hrlich besch�ftigt sich das Buch mit
der westlichen Wirtschaftsstrategie auf dem Balkan. Eine zentrale
Ursache f�r das Auseinanderbrechen Jugoslawiens sieht Hofbauer im
Sanierungsprogramm des IWF. Der staatliche Sparkurs bei gleichzeitiger
radikaler Importliberalisierung hat innerhalb weniger Monate die
Wirtschaft des Landes nahezu v�llig ruiniert und die vorhandenen
Sezessionstendenzen der Republiken dramatisch verst�rkt."

Die Zeitschrift "Illoyal" im Winter 1999/2000: "Ein Vorzug des von
Hofbauer herausgegebenen Bandes ist auf jeden Fall, dass der
Kosovo-Konflikt hier in den Kontext der vorangegangenen Kriege gestellt
wird."

"Buchkultur" im Februar 2000: "Wie Propaganda und ideologische
Rechtfertigung bis zum heutigen Tag funktionieren, zeigt dieser Band
eindrucksvoll und bestens recherchiert."

Die Zeitschrift "Ossietzky" in der Nr. 24/99: "Hannes Hofbauer liefert
nicht nur eine ausf�hrliche Schilderung der Geschichte Jugoslawiens von
der Staatsgr�ndung bis zum Einmarsch der NATO in den Kosovo,
sondern auch eine kritische Untersuchung diverser Gruselberichte, die,
zum Teil nie hinterfragt, durch die Medien geisterten und zur
Kriegsbegr�ndung herhielten."

Promedia
Druck- & Verlagsges.m.b.H.
Wickenburggasse 5/12
A-1080 Wien
Tel.: (0043/1) 405 27 02
Fax: (0043/1) 405 71 59 22
E-Mail: promedia@...

**************************************
Jugoslawisch �sterreichische Solidarit�tsbewegung J�SB
PF 217 A-1040 Wien
Tel&Fax: (+43 1) 924 31 61
joesb@...
http://www.vorstadtzentrum.net/joesb
**************************************

---

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E' americana la pista balcanica che porta a Bin Laden

di TOMMASO DI FRANCESCO


(Il Manifesto del 29/9/2001)



"Il Pentagono teme un fronte Balcanico", un titolo a sei colonne e
sotto solo quattro righe sull'allarme americano. L'abbiamo letto sul La
Stampa. Un po' pochino per spiegare se c'� e perch� un "fronte
balcanico" nella vicenda che lega Bin Laden agli attentati americani.
Naturalmente lo scenario balcanico c'�, eccome. E le due notizie
arrivate ieri lo confermano. Una arriva dalla Lega democratica del
Kosovo (Ldk), il partito di Ibrahim Rugova, che per bocca del vice-
presidente Najm Jerlu, denuncia che "attacchi terroristici nella nostra
regione hanno provocato 1.200 morti negli ultimi due anni dopo
l'intervento della Nato" e che "nuove cellule terroristiche filo-
integraliste di frange dissociate" e provenienti dall'Uck sono pronte
dal Kosovo a far saltare lo stato di tregua in Macedonia, perch� tra
loro ci sono "mercenari" seguaci di Bin Laden addestrati dal 1994 al
1996 dal luogotenente filo-integralista islamico Mohamed Zawhiri". Una
denuncia grave che viene dopo l'accusa dello stesso Rugova che
recentemente ha schernito la cosiddetta "Raccolta essenziale" di armi
tra le fila dell'Uck - gi� addestrata dalla Nato - in Macedonia
promossa dall'Alleanza atlantica, ricordando che "i depositi di armi
sono tutti intatti in territorio kosovaro" e la Nato lo sa bene.
L'altra notizia viene da Sarajevo e dice che decine di seguaci di Osama
bin Laden avrebbero intenzione di abbandonare l'Afghanistan e di
rifugiarsi in Bosnia, con l'aiuto di simpatizzanti locali. "Abbiamo
informazioni da una fonte attendibile che 70 individui, legati
all'organizzazione di Bin Laden, si preparano a lascia l'Afghanistan
per la Bosnia, ritenendolo il luogo pi� sicuro per la loro incolumit�",
ha detto il ministro dell'interno bosniaco Muhamed Besic.
Ma qual � il punto? Dopo la guerra civile 1992-1995, alcuni musulmani
stranieri, tra molti afghani e lo stesso Bin Laden, avevano ricevuto il
passaporto bosniaco in segno di riconoscimento per aver "combattuto"
contro i serbi e i croati. E' questa la storia da raccontare. Una
storia che � emersa nel cosiddetto scandalo del "Bosniagate" nel 1996
scoperto dalla stampa americana - strano che nessuno lo ricordi - in
occasione delle audizioni del Congresso per decidere chi dovesse essere
il nuovo direttore della Cia.
Erano candidati Antony Lake, consigliere dell'allora presidente Bill
Clinton, e George Tenet, di origine albanese. Antony Lake perse la
partita perch� il Congresso scopr� che possedeva "azioni" di societ�
potenti, e soprattutto perch� era stato protagonista di un episodio
giudicato compromettente: aveva favorito una triangolazione di armi
dall'Iran alla Bosnia, agevolando anche l'arrivo di mujaheddin islamici
afghani, iraniani e arabi. Una triangolazione, si scopr�, voluta dallo
stesso Bill Clinton per pareggiare la situazione militare allora
favorevole ai serbi di Bosnia, e per la quale si era adoprato anche
l'inviato Richard Holbrooke. Come l'Iran-Contras dei tempi di Reagan.
A conferma di questo fatto chi scrive intervist� nel 1997 il giudice
Antonio Cassese, allora presidente del Tribunale dell'Aja che. Alla
domanda se valevano come "assoluzione" i lasciapassare rilasciati dalla
presidenza bosniaca di Alja Izetbegovic a miglia di combattenti
islamici - che nel frattempo si erano macchiati di feroci delitti,
anche contro le popolazioni musulmane - rispose di essere a conoscenza
pienamente della cosa, ma che il Tribunale avrebbe raggiunto tutti i
criminali. E non va dimenticato che per quelle stesse triangolazioni di
armi, che per arrivare in Bosnia, toccavano i porti croati controllati
dalle milizie del presidente Tudjman, � stato arrestato recentemente
l'ex presidente argentino Carlos Menem.
Ma Bin Laden? Dopo il 1993 torna in Afghanistan e sar� decisivo nella
cacciata del nuovo governo dei mujaheddin appoggiati dall'Iran, da
parte delle milizie dei Talebani, appoggiati a loro volta dal Pakistan
e dagli Stati uniti. Molti combattenti islamici restano per� nei
Balcani a "rappresentare" gli interessi dell'Iran, tanto che gli Stati
uniti chiederanno al governo di Sarajevo nell'ottobre del 1996 di far
dimettere tutti i ministri legati a filo doppio agli interessi di
Tehran. In Bosnia, temutissimi a Zenica, saranno ricercati
dall'Intelligence di mezzo mondo quando, durante la visita del papa a
Sarajevo nell'aprile 1997, preparano un attentato "dimostrativo" contro
di lui; un oscuro episodio che provoc� poi l'uccisione del responsabile
dei Servizi segreti della Bosnia musulmana. E arrivarono in Albania -
qui al seguito degli interventi finanziari dell'Arabia saudita - e la
stampa americana scopr� la cosiddetta "Albanian connection", i marine
arrivarono a Tirana ad arrestarne alcuni esponenti. Gli attentati
successivi all'ambasciata americana a Nairobi sono stati fatti risalire
proprio alla vendetta dell'"Albanian connection" per quegli arresti in
Albania. Eppure, ben presto, le formazioni irregolari dei combattenti
islamici sarebbero diventate preziose nell'arruolamento e addestramento
dell'Uck.
Il fatto � che i Balcani sono stati il terreno di conflitto prima
dentro l'Europa e poi tra Europa e gli Stati uniti. L'Unione europea
non esisteva quando decise, per la prima volta a Maastricht, con la
commissione Badinter, di non accettare riconoscimenti d'indipendenza
violenti e contro le minoranze interne. Dopo soli due giorni il fronte
unitario europeo venne rotto dalla Germania e dal Vaticano. Si avviava
cos� lo smembramento dell'ancora esistene Federazione jugoslava che
diventava terra da spartire mentre si apriva il conflitto sulla
leadership in Europa. Gli Stati uniti, che fino a quel punto con Cyrus
Vance e il Segretario di stato James Baker, ancora non avevano deciso e
trattavano per tenere in piedi la Jugoslavia - pur avendo il Congresso
Usa finanziato fin dal 1989-90 i partiti nazionalisti - decisero di
occuparsi dei Balcani, ponte geopolitico del sud-est verso l'Est e
tutto l'Oriente.
Nessuno pensi che l'apertura di questo fronte sia stata indolore per
gli Stati uniti. Persero la faccia e la vita i pi� importanti esponenti
della politica estera americana. Cyrus Vance, zittito dal
riconsocimento anche americano della Bosnia Erzegovina, il 14 aprile,
due giorni prima dell'inizio della guerra civile; il plenipotenziario
Frazer caduto in uno strano incidente sul monte Igman a Sarajevo nel
1994; l'ex presidente Jimmy Carter, inviato di Clinton, "bruciato" nei
suoi rapporti amicali con Radovan Karadzic; l'inviato Ron Brown che si
schianta con l'aereo in uno "strano" incidente su Dubrovnik; le
dimissioni forzate del comandante americano dell'Ifor-Nato in Bosnia,
generale Leighton Smith dissenziente con Clinton; l'uscita di scena del
nemico giurato di Holbrooke, Robert Gallucci, suo successore ufficiale.
Poi le guerre, prima in Bosnia, per interposta "strage", e in Kosovo,
sempre per interposta "strage". Guerre umanitarie, diceva il governo
italiano. Invece era la nuova strategia americana, di Holbrooke-
Clinton: il ritorno del protagonismo armato Usa in Europa attraverso
Bosnia Kosovo e Macedonia: "I Balcani - dichiarava Holbrooke - sono la
prova che, senza di noi, l'Europa � impotente". A questo sono servite
le guerre a precipizio che hanno insanguinato Bosnia, Kosovo e
Macedonia. E sono tutt'altro che concluse.
A proposito. Massimo D'Alema, nel suo giusto sforzo di attaccare il
suprematismo razzista di Berlusconi, sbaglia, proprio alla luce di
quanto raccontato, e mente. Come fa a chiedere ora una guerra "mirata"
che rifiuti un conflitto indiscriminato, se nasconde e dimentica di
dire che la guerra che lo ha promosso a statista, quella del 1999 dove
lui dichiara di avere avuto il "coraggio di mettere a rischio la vita
dei soldati italiani", ha ucciso indiscriminatamente - ricordano il
presidente jugoslavo Kostunica e Amnesty International - migliaia di
civili?

---

Several People Arrested in Bosnia

By Aida Cerkez-Robinson
Associated Press Writer
Monday, Oct. 1, 2001; 9:52 a.m. EDT

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina -- Several people
suspected of links to global terrorism were arrested
over the past few days, including two who were found
with box cutters near Sarajevo's airport, Bosnian
authorities said Monday.
The arrests were made by Bosnian police and by SFOR,
the NATO-led peacekeeping force deployed in Bosnia
following the 1992-95 war.
SFOR troops arrested four people last week in the
Sarajevo suburb of Ilidza, SFOR spokesman Capt. Daryl
Morrell said Monday. He did not release further
details, but Bosnian television said Sunday night that
two of the four were foreign citizens and the others
were Bosnians.
Bosnian television identified the two Bosnian suspects
as Nihad Karcic and Armin Harbaus and said they were
employed by the Saudi humanitarian organization
Makath. According to the report, SFOR also seized
documents, computers and $60,000 in cash from the
organization.
Bosnian police made several separate arrests last
week, Federation Interior Minister Muhamed Besic said
Monday.
Some of those arrested were later released, but others
remained in detention as suspects "who could be
involved in terrorism," Besic said. He refused to
elaborate.
A high-ranking Bosnian government official told The
Associated Press on condition of anonymity that two of
the people arrested in the last few days were foreign
citizens from Islamic countries. They were apparently
found close to the Sarajevo airport with box cutters
similar to the ones used by the Sept. 11 hijackers in
the United States.
"We are working together with SFOR and other
international organizations and the operation is
ongoing," Besic said.
The Interior Ministry also asked five Pakistani
citizens in Bosnia on tourist visas to leave the
country, Besic said. They left Sarajevo on Sunday.
Thousands of Islamic fighters arrived in Bosnia at the
beginning of its war to help Bosnian Muslims fight
Serbs and Croats. Most of them left after the war when
NATO troops deployed, but a small number stayed behind
and settled here, obtaining Bosnian citizenship.
Those who remained are now under tighter monitoring by
the Bosnian police.
Last week, the interior minister of the Muslim-Croat
federation, Muhamed Besic, said that "trustworthy
intelligence sources" suggested about 70 associates of
Osama bin Laden, the main suspect for the Sept. 11
attacks, could flee Afghanistan for refuge in Bosnia.

---

MORE DOCUMENTS IN ENGLISH:

>From conservative websites

> http://www.antiwar.com/orig/jatras7.html

'Voices of Moral Obtuseness' Or 'Voices of Immoral Bigotry'?
by Stella L. Jatras - 9/29/01

> http://www.chroniclesmagazine.org/News/Trifkovic/News&Views.htm

CHRONICLES ONLINE, Wednesday, September 19, 2001
OSAMA BIN LADEN: THE BALKAN CONNECTION
by Srdja Trifkovic

---

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> http://www.vorstadtzentrum.net/cgi-bin/joesb/
news/viewnews.cgi?category=all&id01232785

"First get rid of Communists...

...you know who they are, here are the lists. Then, get rid of the
Serbs."

This article was published in the newspaper "Dani". It gives an
interesting view about the beginning of the war in Bosnia-Herzegvina.
It is an interview with a commander of a Muslim division, Ismet
Djuheric, who fought together with the Serbs.

Company of Honest Aggressors
by Vlado Mrkic

Ismet Djuheric was the first commander of the unit of the Army of the
Republic of Srpska "Mesa Selimovic", whose members were mostly
Muslims from the villages in the municipalities of Bosanski Brod and
Derventa. This unit of "Muslim Chetniks", as some referred to it, was
and until today remains one of the big controversies of the past war.
Ismet Djuheric talks to Dani about the events in which he participated
and which he witnessed
Today Ismet Djuheric lives with his wife Hanumica in the village of
Sijekovac near Bosanski Bord. He and his daughter are employees of the
oil refinery in Brod. Discounting several months spent as refugees in
the nearby villages of Dubocac and Kobas, the Djuherics are the only
Muslim family that has spent the whole war in the village of Sijekovac.
Ismet Djuheric talks to Dani about the events in which he participated
and which he witnessed. This article is only a small part of that story,
testimony about a tragic time, about the events which could have taken
place, it seems to us, only in the boiling Bosnian pot, heated by
divisions and hatred of neighbors on the other sides of the Sava and
Drina rivers.

BEGINNING OF TROUBLE: Before the war, I worked in the Bosnian
Brod City Hall, and had connections with some activities of the
authorities and in connection with the authorities. I mention this
because it affected my later fate. I've been active in politics, always
a leftist, a member of the Communist Party, later of the Communist
League.
Today, I am a Socialist. I think that is correct. I have always claimed
and still think that extremists started this war. They were a tool in
the hands of those who came to power after the first multi-party
elections, when our misfortune started.

Before the war, I was a reserve officer of the Yugoslav People's Army. I
had the rank of captain and was a member of the then 327th Brigade in
Derventa. The battalion from Brod was a part of that Brigade. I carried
out certain tasks, at the time that was legal; the war hadn't started in
this region yet, although I was afraid that it would. My activities in
the City Hall were also related with that. Many did not like that, above
all extremists, mostly Croats, and then also Muslims. I say Muslims,
because that is who I am. I was a Yugoslav, now I am a Muslim [the
current official name for Bosnian Muslims is Bosniaks].

After the fall of the YPA barracks in Slavonski Brod [across the river
in Croatia] the tensions in this region significantly increased. There
were clashes, people were carrying weapons. I was among those who
advocated common life, not necessarily brotherhood and unity. Croatia
was already a new state. If we need to protect ourselves from someone, I
used to say, let us at least protect ourselves together, since we
already live together, Serbs, Croats and Muslims. Extremists among
Croats and Muslims were against that and I can tell you that both groups
tried to convince me to join them. Not because of ideals, but because of
interests, since they probably expected that my reputation and my
knowledge in connection with my work could have helped their cause.

They said: "Join us, nothing will happen to you". That was evident when
they attacked me later. I was attacked by the members of the militia
which had been formed in Brod at the start of March 1992 and had
exclusively Croat and Muslim members. The first commander of the
military police in Bosanski Brod was Josip Bilic. All of them were
appointed based on the orders coming from Slavonski Brod. Serbs had
already withdrawn to Lijesce.

FIERCE SHOOTING: I was the president of the Local Commune
Sijekovac and when some locals approached me to figure out the way to
protect ourselves, mostly from criminals, the general attitude was that
all of us, Serbs, Muslims and Croats should participate in local
sentries.
However, the extremists won over in the end and chased away those who
wanted to live together. I was immediately fired from the post of the
president of the local commune. Actually, I was not fired, but they
simply took over.

17 members of the so-called military police participated in a physical
attack on myself and my family. They attacked us in our house and
demanded that I turn over weapons. They thought that the YPA had
stored weapons in my house. I did not have those weapons but I did have
my own. They shot first and than demanded that I surrender. The
shooting was fierce. That night I talked to General Kukanjac, with the
commander of the Brigade in Derventa, with the headquarters in Brod,
with the headquarters in Lijesce, and demanded that the attack on me be
stopped. I did not want to surrender. My wife, son and daughter, who
were minors at the time, were in the house with me. What hurt me the
most was that among the attackers were some of my neighbors or their
children.

The walls of our house were covered with bullet holes. An intervention
to stop these attacks came from the top, but we had no other choice but
to leave. That day, there was a burial. An important individual of some
sort had died and everyone was at the burial. When we saw that the
sentry had left, we somehow got out of Sijekovac and went to my
birthplace Dubocac. I got in touch with the garrison and went to
Derventa.

HOS ARRIVES: However, the same group which attacked me in
Sijekovac, reinforced by a group of HOS soldiers [HOS, or Croatian
Defense Forces, was an extreme right (pro-Ustashe) Croatian militia,
active both in Croatia and Bosnia-Hercegovina in 1991 and 1992] under
the command of in this region well known Obradovic, attacked and took
over Dubovac. Obradovic lived in Slavonski Brod, had a bar there; he was
a Serb and hailed from Kraljevo in Serbia, but was still in HOS. After
the fall of Dubocac we ran away to the Muslim village of Kobas and
that's where my family lived, while I was in Derventa with the Brigade.

A group of 22 HOS soldiers, the so-called Handzars, whose commander
was certain Ekrem Mendela, originally from somewhere in central
Bosnia, came to Sijekovac from Croatia and set up a camp in containers
belonging to a company from Teslic, near my house. They controlled
Sijekovac, together with the so-called intervention platoon of Nijaz
Causevic from Sijekovac, also known as Medo. Obradovic and Causevic
raged in this region with their groups until the liberation of Brod.
Obradovic died later; he was killed by his own soldiers, when they were
running away from Zboriste; he tried to stop them and one of them
killed him.

FOX IN KOBAS: Since then, until the liberation of Brod, I was in
Derventa. In August 1992 I formed my own unit within the Army of the
Republic of Srpska. Most of its members were Muslims, but there were
also a few Serbs and Croats. Its name was the independent Muslim unit
"Mesa Selimovic" [famous Bosnia Muslim writer], and it existed within
the Army of the Republic of Srpska until the end of the war. It was
formed in the village of Kulina near Derventa, in front of the village
school. It was named by General Kelecevic, and at the time Colonel and
now General Slavko Lisica. I was the first commander of the unit, until
January 1993, and after that I left the Army and worked in Brod. The
unit had about 120 soldiers, but the number varied from time to time.
Therefore, it was the size of a company. It fought in all battles around
Brod and Derventa, and also participated in fighting around Teslic,
Tesanj, Maglaj and Zavidovici. Its members were to the last honest
people, who stayed to live here. This unit did its job honestly. In our
opinion we had the right to defend our land, and we did defend our land
and property; we stayed there and believed that that was just. And
indeed, most of these people until this day live and work here.

How was this unit formed? Let there be no confusion, we volunteered. I
wanted to somehow protect people who stayed on their land. We
contacted Lisica and he accepted our proposal. At the time he was a
colonel, a commander of a tactical group. He came to Kobas, where we
had escaped from Dubocac, gathered Muslims and in the yard of the house
where I was living, delivered a speech, and promised people that no one
was to touch them. Then he said: "If you are willing, I will send you
vehicles". There was no force. Later, we gathered in front of the school
in Kulina and were thinking about a name for the unit. As far as I
remember, I think that Lisica mentioned the name of Mesa Selimovic,
and that General Kelecevic accepted. I also liked the name and agreed. I
had read Mesa, sometime because his books were a part of the required
reading list at school, and sometimes because I liked his books. And
that's how it stayed. As a unit we did not do anything bad, let one of
our opponents say that is not true. We were visited by foreign
journalists, even princess Jelisaveta came to the front to see us. We
were visited by British members of the Parliament; they drank coffee
with us. We were famous for our culinary skills. As people from the
banks of the Sava river, we could prepare really good fish.

AGGRESSORS ON THEIR OWN LAND: What I did, what all of us
did, we chose that and are not sorry. I know that Serbs were declared
aggressors, but we did not accept that. We were a part of the Army of
the Republic of Srpska, we were with our neighbors, there was no one
else there; there was no one from Montenegro or Serbia. If they were
aggressors, then we were aggressors together with them. And how can I
be an aggressor on my own land? I do not understand that. It was a war,
there were those who carried weapons and were not mature enough for
that; there were all sorts of things and one had to take care of himself
and stay on one's own land. Some could not take it and they left, but
some did persevere and stayed. Whole Muslim villages stayed. Take, for
example, Luzani and Omeragici in the Derventa municipality, complete
villages inhabited by Muslims and all of them are still there.

There were many Muslims from Derventa in my company, but also in the
rest of the Derventa Brigade. It is impossible to take that at face
value, the stuff they said about the aggression. Until May 1992, when
those children were killed in Kolibe, 18-year old YPA conscripts, the
YPA was a legal military force in this region. Even then it was
impossible to talk about aggression. That word was used to pull the
International Community on one side in the conflict. And everyone wanted
that. I know of cases that all three sides attacked their own villages
in order to accuse the other sides and that cannot provide alibi for no
one of them.
That is the truth. All that was done in order to cause chaos, since
people, apart from those extremists, still wanted to stay on their own
land and live with their neighbors. Look, they are coming back now.

It is true that many more Muslims were on the other side. But they were
not on their own. They fought within HVO. They had to obey orders.
Every Muslim unit in HVO had a Croat "advisor", and we all know what
that means. I was completely independent, had full trust of my
superiors; I had no advisors in my company. That also applies to my
successor.

CRIME IN SIJEKOVAC: The crime in Sijekovac took place on March
26 1992. I was at the time in Derventa, in my unit as an operative in
the Brigade headquarters. I was the first person in Derventa to receive
information about what happened. I know that the then crisis staff of
Sijekovac decided to attack and disarm a part of the village; there are
written documents about that. That order was signed by Smajo Havic,
the then president of the crisis staff in Sijekovac; soon afterwards he
resigned, probably after realizing what he had done. Obradovic's HOS
troops and Nijaz Causevic Medo's intervention platoon participated in
that attack. The members of intervention platoon were extremists from
Sijekovac, Muslims and Croats. Eight Serbs were murdered in that
attack. They were all innocent people, some of them were even retarded.
I got the news in Derventa about the crime from late Miso Bacic; I hope
that he will be rehabilitated, since the manner in which he died is
shameful for everyone here.

Before the war Muslims held the largest share in the population of
Sijekovac, then Serbs and then Croats. If it wasn't for extremists, and
criminals, Sijekovac could have kept the status of a neutral village,
although at the time it was hard to remain neutral.

This incident was used as an excuse to continue the war and definitely
strongly influenced that. That was one of the events which indicated
that there was no going back. If it weren't for that crime, many people
would not have escaped when we arrived. Many of them did not want to
leave, but were afraid of revenge.

PIKLOVIC SHOOTS A MOVIE: HVO [Croatian Defense Council, the
"official" Bosnian Croat militia; HVO absorbed HOS members after an
unsolved murder of their leader in Hercegovina] was in charge in this
region. For example, 102nd Brigade from Bosanski Brod had a battalion
from Sijekovac; Adnan Ramadanovic (killed later by his neighbors) was
the commander of the battalion. He was the first commander of military
police in Sijekovac, at the beginning of March 1992. All orders came
from HVO. Ivan Brzic was the president of the crisis staff, Armin
Pohara was some sort of his top executor, but all orders came from
Slavonski Brod. There is a movie, filmed by the people from HVO,
which shows how villages were burned down after Serbs had
withdrawn, starting with Lijesce and so on. Piklovic personally went in
a car and watched as these villages were set on fire; the film was shot
from his car and he was at the time the president of the executive
council of the Slavonski Brod Municipality. I think that Tudman
personally gave free hand to Ante Prkacin to do as he pleased in
Posavina. HVO burnt down all Serb villages towards Doboj. That was
probably done to prevent Muslims from Kotorsko and Modrica to more into
those Serbs villages and change the ethnic composition of the population
in the region.

There are documents, with names, that show that members of the
so-called Sijekovac battalion, a lot of them Muslims, were paid from
Croatia. In that case, who was the aggressor? Several formations of the
Croatian Army fought in this region. One of them was the 108th
Brigade, the first brigade of the Croatian Army, which, as they say,
liberated the YPA barracks in Slavonski Brod. It experienced a debacle
in Kostres and Novo Selo, where some 60 to 70 percent of its soldiers
were killed. I captured their documentation. The command of the Brigade
was in a restaurant near Ukrina. I remember that the commander's name
was Martin, I did not remember his surname, but do remember that he had
been a reserve officer of an engineering company of the YPA in the
Derventa Brigade.

They came here from Croatia, they were in charge. The Bjelovar Brigade
and some other brigades of the Croatian Army also fought here. When
we liberated Brod and captured some people, they told us that they had
been taken to Posavina [region next to the Sava river in northern
Bosnia] by deceit. They told them they were going against Okucani and
then took them to Brod.

I was on duty in the barracks in Derventa when HVO captured Fikret
Abdic in Radic. I picked up the phone and someone said: "You can have
Abdic, just give us Vencelovka and Stanic". Those were Croats whom we
had captured, but we immediately released them. I called the commander
of the defense of the barracks, major Stajcic. We did not want to
discuss an exchange.

WHAT EVERYONE KNOWS: A mass grave of Serbs murdered by
HVO before October 1992 was discovered in Brod, but that was not
publicized. There is some documentation about the actions of Nijaz
Causevic Medo, there are statements by witnesses, there is filmed
evidence. Causevic filmed a three-hour movie about his unit. His group
raped a Serb woman from Sijekovac, cut her up in pieces and threw her
flesh to dogs. There were other rapes and so on. A member of Medo's
unit killed a man who had sold a horse, a Croat. All of that has been
processed, both by the Army and Police. On March 26 the following
people were murdered in Sijekovac: three Zecevics, Milan, Vaso and
Petar (Milan was a driver in the Refinery), then Luka Milosevic and his
two sons. Sreto Trivic, my good friend, and elderly man, a pensioner,
was slaughtered while sitting in an armchair. That was proven. They
came up to him and slaughtered him.

Mustafa Kovacevic, an electrical engineer in the Refinery and a world
famous expert, and his wife Mirsada were murdered while HVO and
Medo were in power. Their corpses had been burned, but we found their
remains and they were buried. My friend Mustafa Alic was murdered in
his own house, but his corpse was never found. Some other people,
mostly Serbs and Muslims, disappeared without a trace. The Croat part
of the extremist leadership used to say: "First get rid of Communists.
You know who they are, here are the lists. Then, get rid of the Serbs".

That is the truth. Everyone knows about that. These days, some of the
culprits are walking around free.

MEDO IN ASSEMBLY: That went on until October 7 1992, when we
entered Brod. I said "we" because I was one of the commanders who
participated in, as we say, the liberation of Bosanski Brod. Somehow, we
ended up in the region of Sijekovac, we returned home. We were in a
hurry because we knew that there were honest and good people here and
that some of them would wait for us. That's how it was. Unfortunately,
some stayed and lost their lives. That is what happened, that is the way
the war was, that is our misfortune.

I am pretty dissatisfied with what has been done to resolve crimes. Some
work was done by our authorities, some by IPTF. Quite a few of those
people, such as Nijaz Causevic Medo, who is definitely responsible for
many crimes in this region, and especially for Sijekovac, were never
charged. Obradovic has been killed, he is gone, but many of his people
who participated in everything are still around. For example, there is
Zeljko Barisic, who was here at the time as a General of HVO. There is a
film which shows Barisic leading the so-called group for fighting
against snipers near the post office in Brod. That film was forged.
Blazen Kljajic is another one of that sort.

Life is slowly returning to normal in Sijekovac. About 70 percent of
Serbs have returned, there are some refugees, and lately, we've had
about ten-twelve Muslim and one Croat family of returnees. Most of them
are elderly people, youngsters come to take a look and leave. But, even
after all that has happened people want to again live together.

---

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