Bosnian President Hostage 2

On 3 May 1992 President Alija Izetbegovic was kidnapped by Federal army officers at Sarajevo airport on his return from EU talks in Portugal. http://mycentury.tv/balkani/250-bosnian-president-kidnapped-2.html

On orders from Belgrade the JNA used Izetbegovic to get an agreement on the safe passage of their troops in the barracks in central Sarajevo, under UN protection, through Canadian General Lewis Mackenzie.

The day before those troops had attacked the Bosnian Presidency and other government buildings in Sarajevo. At some point their tanks were no more than 50 metres from the Presidency. Bosnian fighters using anti-tank missiles stopped the assault and managed to counter-attack and encircle the Federal Army headquarters.

The UNPROFOR commander in Sarajevo, Brigadier General Lewis MacKenzie, acted as a mediator to facilitate the exchange between President Izetbegovic and the JNA commander, Colonel-General Kukanjac.

The plan was for a column of a few UNPROFOR APCs along with 20 empty JNA vehicles to escort Izetbegović and his daughter from the Lukavica army barracks to the Tito-barracks in town. The convoy would then pick up Kukanjac and a large group of JNA personnel and return to Lukavica, outside the city centre. Along the way, a part of the convoy with UNPROFOR escort would break off and bring Izetbegović to his Presidency.

The convoy did not go as planned. In his diary, MacKenzie called 3 May "the worst day of my life." Once at the JNA headquarters, there were delays and additional demands from Gen. Kukanjac and confusion between President Izetbegovic and his deputies over whether the Sarajevo government could guarantee the convoy's safety. The JNA soldiers were armed and the Bosnian forces wanted to disarm them but Gen. Kukanjac refused. Soon after the convoy left the Tito-barracks, it came under fire.

President Izetbegovic then switched to another vehicle and Gen. MacKenzie dismounted to help diffuse a confrontation farther back in the column.

After moving about another kilometer, some of the UNPROFOR vehicles, along with Izetbegović and his daughter left the column and arrived safely at the Presidency building. The JNA convoy finally arrived at the Lukavica barracks late that night. After its arrival, JNA and Bosnian Serb mortars and artillery started a heavy bombardment on Sarajevo.

Serb sources give the number of army officers and soldiers killed at 42, 71 injured and 215 JNA personnel taken prisoner.

Globalsecurity's (www.globalsecurity.org) estimate is that overall, twenty-five JNA soldiers were killed and wounded during the exchange and over ninety JNA soldiers taken prisoner (most of whom were exchanged by 5 May).

{From "The Death of Yugoslavia", October 1995, Brian Lapping Production for the BBC}

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Аlija
• Izetbegovic
• Divjak
• Ejup
• Ganic
• Ејуп
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• Mackenzie
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• Carrington
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[harizzo]

on je bosnjak i to je jedan narod nema veze ako je u bosni ili u srbiji

[emirez]

Ejup Ganic je Bosnjak.

[ivonaPattinson]

@swedenzlatan pa sta ?

[Janjarac20]

And the Modern World Watched How Bosnian Muslims and the Land of Bosnia is Being Destroyed and Ethnicly Cleansed from the Serbo Chetnics !!! SHAME ON YOU EUROPE !!!! WE BOSNIANS WILL NEVER FORGET THIS PERIOD!!!92-95 !!!

[Adin07]

i u prodavanje pola nase zemlje srbima.

[Didzoni]

Pa naravno...cetnici su pucali po svojima i ubijali svoju mladu vojsku...ajd' molim te!

[crazydude57]

ovo je sve mackenzie sa cetnicima uradijo

[shqipnietnike]

dobar dogovor jer smo spasili babo aliju koji ce se kasnije pokazati kao dobar takticar rata i naoruznje armije bih