UN, NATO and US must secure four objectives to ensure that the partial withdrawal and temporary silence of the Serb heavy weapons around Sarajevo would not be turned to the advantage of Serbs against the Bosnians

by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjung, Lim Kit Siang, in Penang on Thursday, February 24, 1994:

UN, NATO and US must secure four objectives to ensure that the partial withdrawal and temporary silence of the Serb heavy weapons around Sarajevo would not be turned to the advantage of Serbs against the Bosnians

The United Nations, NATO and the United States must secure four objectives to ensure that the partial withdrawal and temporary silence of the Serb heavy weapons around Sarajevo would not be turned to the advantage of Serbs against the Bosnians.

Firstly, heavy Serb weapons not withdrawn from the 20-km exclusion zone from Sarajevo allegedly because of ‘snow and rain’ must be surrendered to UN for effective and not ‘nominal’ control;

Secondly, there must be full Serb compliance with other requirements of a genuine end to the 22-month siege of Sarajevo – including free access of the city and termination of the Serb control of the water and power supplies in the Bosnian capital.

Thirdly, the Serbs must not be allowed to secure their positons around Sarajevo in much the same way that they secured their “liberated” territory in Croatia. After Serb forces had captured 30 per cent of Croatia, UN peacekeepers stepped in to stop the fighting in 1992. This froze the Serb gains and allowed them to turn their attention to Bosnia. With their battle lines secured in Sarajevo, the Serbs can concentrate on other parts of Bosnia.

Fourthly, UN liberation of the other Muslim enclaves, especially in eastern Bosnia and the removal of all Serb heavy weapons from the whole of Bosnia.