Serbs In Sarajevo Beg Envoy To Delay Transfer To Enemy Rule

Serb leaders pleaded with an American envoy Thursday to postpone turning Sarajevo over to their enemies, while some citizens torched their homes and prepared to leave.

Envoy Robert Gallucci ventured into the Serb-held Grbavica district to discuss the future of Sarajevo - one of the biggest obstacles to peace in Bosnia - with Serb leaders.

The peace accord for Bosnia calls for the city to be turned over to the Muslim-led government by March 19, but most of the roughly 100,000 Serbs in Sarajevo fear they will be treated badly once that happens.

Hundreds have already fled rather leave than submit to enemy rule, and on Thursday, some torched their houses and property so they wouldn’t leave anything of value behind.

“I was fighting for four years to defend this house,” said Miroslav Divcic, outside his Grbavica home. “If they don’t find a solution for Serb Sarajevo, I will take all my things and go. And on my way I will burn my house.

“It’s better for this house to be burned than Muslims or Croats take it. They are my enemies.”

Gallucci’s meeting was preceded by a tough statement from Momcilo Krajisnik, a Bosnian Serb leader who warned of armed resistance by Serbs unless reunification is delayed.

“We also have views of a united, undivided city, but the period (until March 19) is not enough to make the idea reality,” a local Serb official, Mirko Sarovic, said after meeting Gallucci and U.S. Ambassador to Bosnia John Menzies.

Serb leaders have demanded the transfer be delayed until Sept. 15. They recently suggested they want the extension not so much to ensure an orderly transfer but to dismantle hospitals and factories that would otherwise fall into government hands.

Sarovic said he and the other Serbs asked Gallucci for high-level talks on gaining a grace period for the transfer. He said Gallucci promised to relay the message to President Clinton.

A conciliatory statement Wednesday by Maksim Stanisic, a Sarajevo Serb leader, indicated that Serb leaders are divided over when to cede their part of the city to the government.