High-Level Negotiations Make Headway In Bosnia Prisoner Exchange, Other Issues Addressed In Pale

Some of the men who will lead postwar Bosnia held talks on Serb turf Friday, agreeing to free prisoners and promote the reunification of Sarajevo while trying to head off a mass exodus of Serbs.

The meeting in this Bosnian Serb stronghold brought together Kresimir Zubak, president of the Muslim-Croat federation, and Momcilo Krajisnik, a leader of the Bosnian Serbs.

Each group will control about half of Bosnia, with the Muslim-Croat federation controlling the capital of Sarajevo.

The Pale talks - the first highlevel meeting on Serb territory since war began nearly four years ago - marked a significant sign of rapprochement between the warring sides, especially on the issue of POWs.

“We agreed to issue orders for the release of the remaining prisoners as soon as possible,” Krajisnik said.

Officials of the NATO-led force enforcing the Bosnian peace accord said two swaps would take place Saturday: an exchange of 40 Serbs imprisoned by the Muslim-led Bosnian government and 52 government prisoners of the Serbs at Teslic in northern Bosnia, and a swap of 127 Serb and Croat prisoners near Mostar.

Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic’s office said he would order the unilateral release of Muslim and Croat POWs held by the Serbs. Pale sources said that will happen next week.

The POW release is key to building confidence and fostering goodwill among Bosnia’s former enemies.

Their failure to comply with a Jan. 19 deadline to unconditionally release all POWs was the first significant violation of the Dayton peace accord. Only about a third of the 900 prisoners registered by the Red Cross were released.

Zubak, an ethnic Croat, and Krajisnik, a hard-line Serb, also agreed to resolve tensions around Sarajevo, where 70,000 Serbs have threatened to flee when Serbheld parts of the city revert to federation control March 19.

“Personally, I am calling on Serbs to stay,” said Zubak. “They’ll have full equality with all other peoples.”

Krajisnik said Bosnian Serbs wanted “an agreement with the federation” over coexistence in Sarajevo.

“Coexistence in Sarajevo can be established only if there is mutual respect and if minimum interests and rights and authority of all three nations are respected,” he said.

His comments were the strongest statement of support yet for a united Sarajevo from a senior Bosnian Serb official.