(29 Feb 1996) English/Nat
Another Serb suburb of Sarajevo was handed over to Bosnian Federation control on Friday as part of the Dayton peace deal.
Ilijas is the second major Serb neighborhood to come under Federal authority.
Despite assurances of protection for the Serbs most of the residents have fled taking with them everything they could carry.
Ilijas is the second major Serb district in Sarajevo to be handed over to the Moslem-Croat Federal Authority.
Many Serbs were said to be seen packing and preparing for eventual flight, for fear of retaliation from Muslims.
Buildings were in flames on Thursday morning hours ahead of the district's handover.
The transfer was monitored by US ambassador John Menzies, and Bosnian interior minister, Avdo Hebib, both on hand to ensure the behaviour of the incoming Federation police.
Hasan Muratovic, Moslem prime minister of the central government established by the Dayton peace agreement, was happy that Sarajevo would be linked with the rest of the federation for the first time since the Bosnian war began in 1992.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
The significance of Ilijas been brought back to Sarajevo proper is that blockade of the city, the siege of the city which was for four years a major problem for the inhabitants here is over. From today a citizen of Sarajevo can sit in the car and drive out to Tuzla or a couple of other towns in Central Bosnia.
SUPER CAPTION: Hasan Muratovic, Moslem prime minister
But de-mining units had to be called in to defuse booby traps left behind in the police station.
Serb authorities in Pale have organised convoys of lorries to transport the residents to Srebrenica, deep in Serb territory and almost abandoned since alleged ethnic cleansing against indigenous Moslem inhabitants.
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