Rivals Begin Sharing Arrangement For TV

Sun., Sept. 28, 1997

Irena Gajic Associated Press

Television programs produced by opponents of top war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic went on the air Saturday, reaching all Bosnian Serb homes, including those in Karadzic’s stronghold.

The broadcasts are a result of an agreement between rival factions in the Bosnian Serb republic to share the airwaves, following months of public feuding. The agreement was brokered Wednesday by Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.

Saturday’s programming was produced in Banja Luka, the northwestern city serving as headquarters for Biljana Plavsic, Karadzic’s chief rival and the president of the Serb section of Bosnia. On Sunday, broadcasting is to originate from Pale, Karadzic’s stronghold east of Sarajevo.

The two sides are to take turns broadcasting every other day until Bosnian Serb elections are held to determine whether Serbs’ loyalties lie with Karadzic or Plavsic. Parliamentary elections are scheduled Nov. 15 and presidential elections Dec. 7.

An election for the Serb seat in the three-member, national Bosnian presidency - now held by Momcilo Krajsinik, a close Karadzic aide - also will be Dec. 7.

If Plavsic loses the election for president of the Bosnian Serb republic, she likely will sink into insignificance - and could be in danger from Karadzic’s allies. At the same time, a show of overwhelming support for Karadzic would make him a difficult target, complicating a U.S.-led campaign to have him stand trial at the U.N. war crimes court in The Hague, Netherlands.

In Vienna, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe aid it would supervise all three elections, as it has all others in Bosnia.

Since the intra-Serb dispute escalated in June, the control over television - the main source of information for Bosnian Serbs - has been a key issue.

The rival factions have openly fought for control of transmitters and other broadcasting equipment. In recent weeks, Serbs in the western part of their mini-state could see only programming from Banja Luka and Serbs in the east only broadcasts from Pale.

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Rivals Begin Sharing Arrangement For TV

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