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Date:         Wed, 12 Aug 1992 23:39:17 -0500
From:         "Velibor M. Marenovic" <VMARENOVIC@MACALSTR.EDU>
Subject:      Serbian Calls for Demilitarization
X-To:         mideur-l%ubvm.bitnet@ksuvm.ksu.edu

>
> Serbian Calls for Demilitarization
> With AM-Yugoslavia Rdp
> By GEORGE GEDDA
> Associated Press Writer
>
>     WASHINGTON (AP) - A top Serbian official called Tuesday for a
> total demilitarization of the areas affected by fighting in the
> former Yugoslavia, and she blasted the news media for an anti-Serb
> bias in covering the conflict.
>     Radmilla Milentijevic, a cabinet minister at large of the
> Belgrade government, said that as a first step toward peace in
> Bosnia, Croat forces should follow the example of the Serbian Army
> and withdraw from Bosnian territory.
>     She also insisted that assistance from the Belgrade government
> to Serbians in Bosnia is limited to food and medicines.
>     ``If you think (Serbian leader Slobodon) Milosevich is in
> control of Serb forces in Bosnia - no, absolutely not,'' she said.
>     In contrast, the Bush administration has held the Belgrade
> government largely responsible for the fighting in Bosnia by
> supporting Serb forces.
>     Milentijevic is a U.S. citizen of Serbian ancestry who is
> chairman of the history department at the City College of New York.
>     Speaking at a news conference, Milentijevic argued strongly
> against suggestions that Bosnian forces be given military
> assistance in order to defend themselves against Serb rebels.
>     Instead, she said the whole area should be turned into a
> demilitarized zone in which separate regions would be set aside for
> Croats, Serbs and Muslims.
>     Milentijevic repeatedly complained that abuses by Croats and
> Muslims are being overlooked by the international media and said
> one result of this has been the anti-Serb stance of the Bush
> administration.
>     Asserting that Serbs were allies of the United States during two
> world wars, Milentijevic asked, ``What has made these people turn
> out to be monsters?''
>     She said the media has focused on Serbian efforts to uproot
> Muslims and Croats as part of a policy of ``ethnic cleansing'' but
> has not called attention to the countless Serbs who have been
> displaced by the war.
>     She said half a million Bosnian Serbs have been forced to flee
> their homes and are now living as refugees in Serbia.
>     In addition, she said, the media has completely distorted the
> military situation by leaving the impression that the overwhelming
> majority of heavy weapons are in Serb hands.
>     She said she had not seen the text of a United Nations draft
> resolution authorizing military force to ensure deliveries of
> assistance to Bosnia.
>     But she expressed hope that none of the warring factions would
> attempt to prevent humanitarian supplies from reaching the needy.
>     She also denied the widespread impression left by the media that
> Muslims and Croats are being badly mistreated in Serb-run camps.
>     ``They are being treated fairly well, all things considered,''
> she said.
>
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