Complex sentence: Initially the HVO denied his request by stating that they had nothing to gain from having a presence on Igman, but by the latter half of his stay on the mountain his eventual transfer to the HVO was considered imminent.
Split into simpler sentences: Initially the HVO denied his request by stating that they had nothing to gain from having a presence on Igman. By the latter half of his stay on the mountain however, his eventual transfer to the HVO was considered imminent.