Topic: Zagreb Diary 
** Written 11:13 AM  Aug 24, 1992 by wam@zamir-zg.comlink.apc.org in gn:yugo.antiwar **

Zagreb Diary
14-08-1992

Dobar Dan,

I have got some messages today from the states stating they had seen Susan on television telling about here contacts with me, great, E-mail is starting to work. But it is HER work with this kidney patients, I am only a transmitter of information, a networker so the say, nothing special.

It was a nice day today, I watch an of the most emotional moment on television, HTV. first of all the moment that 300 Women and children, "Who ran away from hell" as they stated on television, arrived in Split from Sarajevo. They made there way through the mountain road and it took them 3 days, but they our out and safe in Split now.

The other report was if possible more emotional, coloured with a lot of tears of happiness, in a small village in UNPA (united Nations Protected Areas) land an exchange of POW's (Prisoners of War) took place. 765 Croatians were exchanged for 418 Serbians. The extra emotional thing was that this Croatians POW's were hold in prison from the time Serbian forces took over control over Vukovar. In fact most of them were not real soldiers but defenders of Vukovar. For me it was emotional since I and especially Nina spend hours talking with the women from Vukovar whose friend and/or husband now returned. 

The pictures were beautiful, people without any shame and totally out of their mind from happiness, one girl fly here friend around the neck and he felt, they kept on kissing and hugging each other laying on the ground. For over 7 months this women didn't know if their friends and relative were alive, up to 1 week ago not one signal was coming out any institution which could give them the hope that they were still alive. Thanks, I think, to the world pressure, suddenly this exchange was possible. I feel sorry for the women who had to find out their loved one was not among this group. Ones again they came back empty handed, only with the hope they have got out of the rumours that some people have seen them alive. Or with the women who heard that their loved one is killed, at least they know it now, but that is not much comfort.

An other thing what worries me at this moment is the high level game Serbian authorities in Northern Bosnia are playing with UNHCR. I wonder if you can put the life of 20.000 people a stack for a principle. You probably have heard this story on your media, if not, let me explain it briefly. UNHCR received a list of 20.000 names of mostly Muslim people who like to go from a by Serbians (mark the word Serbians and NOT Serbia) controlled region in BiH to Croatia, the Serbian authorities said that this people are refugees and that their lives are endangered when they stay in that region. UNHCR refused to do this operation since they see this as them doing the ethnic-cleansing for the Serbians and ping-ponged the responsibility back to the Serbian authorities. 

And of course this principle of not being co-responsible for ethnical cleaning is a good principle, but as said the situation in Northern Bosnia is real, people are getting killed, houses looted and burned, as far as we can follow it and see it on television. And the reports from UNHCR monitors also stated that they found clear signs of violence against people on the bases of ethnical differences, they know that they play a very high game. But maybe the world rejects different and the pressure will be enough that these 20.000 lives and futures will be safe. It is a difficult decision anyway to take.

You also sometimes hear this stories of people which seems to live for luck. A war reporter from the states who fly in from Budapest into Beograd, bought a car there to go to northern Bosnia, "To do the camps" as he said, went from there to Sarajevo, managed somehow to get in without any problem, only lost his car there, arrived yesterday in Split. He drove in 3 days from Sarajevo to there in a car he bought in Sarajevo (without taking of the numberplates) and had no problem what so ever. "It is hard job" he stated "But somebody has to do it". Other people would have been killed just like that.

A colleague of him, who organised his trip a lot more sensitive (David Kaplan, ABC newsproducer) was a lot less lucky, after being half an hour in Sarajevo he was hit by a snipper and lost so much blood that he dead. He went to Sarajevo together with Panic (Prime Minister of new Yugoslavia) and his dead was the biggest shadows on this visit, which anyway was a huge failure. After Panic had already a lot of problem getting into his aeroplane as I described yesterday, Izetbegovic didn't want to see he and coming back in Beograd the guy Panic look like small kid, telling weird stories about snippers who get 500 Dmarks for killing journalists, who just found out that there is a real war going on and his power is a lot less than he thought. It is a pity for him to find it out the hard way, but he is only a puppet on a string and when he starts to do things like he did yesterday he had to found out that not many people takes him serious. We have that nice saying in Dutch, shoemaker keeps to your profession and this is a case book example.  

Outside I hear them calling "Krumpir, Krumpir" (selling potatoes) it means the sun is up again, the night is over and it would be time that I sleep a little, since the coming days journalists will come one after another and in between some delegations of politicians and on the Center everybody is on holidays.

As last lines a total surprise for you, the prices went up today, some with more than 25%.

 With Love from ZA-mir-GREB,

Wam:-)

P.s. for those who wonder why a trip from Spilt to Sarajevo cost 1000 Dm the answer is simple, on every roadblock you can buy yourself a passing, since you have to pass a few of them the price can go skyhigh and the guide wants to make some money as well. That's why the price is so high 

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