Serbs Vote With Their Feet On Peace Exodus Continues From Sarajevo Suburbs Despite Muslim Pleas

Neither a strong appeal by the Muslim-led government nor a snowstorm could stop a widening stream of Bosnian Serbs from rushing out of Sarajevo on Wednesday.

Foreign mediators accused Bosnian Serb leaders of provoking the exodus by playing on fears that, once the city is reunified, Muslims will retaliate for the Serbs’ 3-1/2-year siege of Sarajevo.

Serb leaders on Tuesday told the city’s 50,000 Serbs to flee before Friday, when Vogosca, one of the city’s five Serb districts, will be the first to be handed over to the Muslim-Croat federation under terms of the U.S.-brokered peace accord. They offered buses, food and fuel for those wishing to leave.

But the government, trying to preserve the city’s ethnic mix, on Wednesday urged the flight to stop.

“Serbs of Sarajevo, … don’t leave your homes,” said a government radio broadcast. “All those staying in Sarajevo are safe.”

Under the Bosnian peace accord, the city is to be reunited by March 19. An estimated 20,000 to 40,000 Serbs have left the city since the accord was initialed in November.

Departures Wednesday began slowly during a snowstorm but picked up as the day wore on - a steady flow of vehicles packed with furniture.

Dragan Stankovic, his wife Mara and 13-year-old son Vladimir were among those Serbs preparing to go.

“I cannot see any kind of security,” Dragan said. “We don’t want to live together. … I have no confidence.”

International officials have sought to prod the government into reassuring Serbs. To date, the government had sent mixed signals, saying Serbs would be welcome to stay, but that those responsible for war crimes would have nowhere to hide.

Carl Bildt, the Swede charged with enforcing the civilian provisions of the accord, said he believed Serbs leaving Sarajevo en masse would not cause the shaky peace to fail.