ONE DIFFICULTY encountered by campaigners in support of a multi-ethnic Bosnia is the apparent insistence of the British media on referring to all Bosnians as 'Muslims', even if they point out that they are Serbs or Croats.
A definitive response to this distortion of the conflict was provided by the recent visit to London of a high-level delegation representing the Serb Civic Council of Bosnia.
This delegation, which went almost unremarked by the media, included many senior political, military, diplomatic and academic figures.
According to SCC President Mirko Pejanovic, the Council is "the political alternative to the Pale regime and Karadzic, as symbols of violence, evil and the expulsion of Bosniacs and Croats from their homes".
The SCC issued a statement on the latest 'peace plan', maintaining that peace would only be possible on the basis of a democratic and sovereign Bosnia-Herzegovina, with equality of all of its peoples and citizens, the right of all refugees to return home, and the punishment of all war criminals.
At a press conference, several delegation members expressed reservations about the agreement. Pejanovic wondered: "Are we now faced with an ethnic partition of Bosnia-Herzegovina by the back door?", and insisted that any agreement must involve a constitutional settlement guaranteeing Bosnia's survival as a multi-ethnic state.
Another delegate, Bosnian deputy Chief-of-Staff General Jovan Divjak, claimed that neither the Croatian re-occupation of Krajina nor the NATO bombing had shifted the military balance.
The majority of Serb troops from Karjina — some 20-30,000 men with 40 tanks — were now in central Bosnia. NATO bombing had not destroyed the main strategic targets, and there had been no consultation with the Bosnian army regarding targets or objectives.
Divjak pointed out that there was no balance of forces: the Bosnian army had 60 tanks compared to the Pale regime's 400; 400 pieces of heavy artillery against 2000; and 4 helicopters against 40. He repeated that the only way to achieve balance was to lift the arms embargo.
Divjak made an appeal to the British media to stop referring to the 'Bosnian Muslim army'. He was proud to be a member of a multi-ethnic army in a multi-ethnic state. The army, which was based on regional units, had proportionate numbers of Serbs.
This meant, for instance, that there were few in Krajina, where the population before the war had been 95 per cent Muslim, but 10-20 per cent in other areas. There were not enough Serb officers, particularly in command of non-Serb troops, and he had raised this problem with President Izetbegovic.
Like other delegates, Divjak insisted that the government should not agree to an exchange of territories. This would reduce the number of Serbs and Croats in areas under government control, and legitimise ethnic cleansing.
According to Stjepan Kljujic, a member of the Croat National Council of Bosnia travelling with the delegation, "No-one has the right to manipulate and trade territories.
There is no Bosnia Herzegovina without all of its peoples, and there is no sense in talking of exchanges". Kljujic also stated that the return of all refugees, including Krajina Serbs, was a condition for peace.
The delegation, which included supporters of several parties in Bosnia, was on an officially-sponsored visit and travelled with Bosnian ambassador Muhammad Filipovic. Although they expressed some reservations about the 'peace plan' and the Bosnian government's ability to withstand US pressure, they were unlikely to attack the government's line.
IWA activist Jenny Mees recently returned from a visit to Tuzla, reports that the situation has deteriorated since the fall of Srebrenica and the flight of some 11,000 refugees (including at least 15 Serb families).
She interviewed Serb representatives in the city, who gave conflicting accounts of the situation for Serbs. While the Miso Bozic of the Serb Civic Council gave a positive report, Jovan Djalovic and Vitomir Pavlovic of the Serbian Orthodox Humanitarian Association 'Dobrotvor' claimed that life for Serbs was impossible in Tuzla, and most wanted to leave.
• There will be a fuller account of their views, and of Jenny's report from Tuzla, in the next issue of *Socialist Outlook*.