Word: serb
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...Milosevic, Croatian President Franjo Tudjman and Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic had affixed their signatures to the document under the crystal chandeliers of the Elysee Palace, Chirac and Clinton huddled alone in Chirac's second-floor office. The crux of their discussion that evening was what to do about Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and his military commander, General Ratko Mladic. A senior French official who had recently returned from Bosnia had convinced Chirac that Mladic and Karadzic still controlled the situation on the ground and could derail the accords at any time...
...where is Radovan Karadzic? Probably in Serb-held Herzegovina, a barren wedge of land running from eastern Bosnia south toward the Adriatic. "He's here," says Bozidar Vucurevic, formerly of Karadzic's Serb Democratic Party in the region, "And he's defended not by any special troops but by the people." Says a local party member: "It's not easy to make an arrest in Herzegovina. We're not cowards. It wouldn't happen without consequences...
Perhaps. In the exaggerated mythology of the Balkans, eastern Herzegovina is the hard heart of Serb nationalism. The inhabitants pride themselves on being as inhospitable to interlopers as the rocky soil is to farming. "We see them as occupiers," a local Serbian Orthodox priest says of the NATO troops in the region. Also convenient for Karadzic is the region's extended, porous border with Serbia and Montenegro that provides ample escape routes in case of a snatch attempt. Most important, the entire region is in the French sector of NATO operations in Bosnia. Statistically, that is the safest place...
...stayed up all night, phoning diplomats in Kosovo and officials at the State Department, the U.N. and NATO headquarters. He is concerned that the next Balkan war could start at Kijevo, a village so tiny that it's not even on the map. A few thousand Albanians, 80 Serb families and 250 Serb military police are surrounded by K.L.A. checkpoints. But no one there is able to tear down the K.L.A. barricades. Ambassador Hill will return this week to try to get the checkpoints cleared, and U.S. Envoy to the Balkans Robert Gelbard will continue to work on Rugova...
...waits for takeoff, Holbrooke accepts that this mission has at best bought some more time before war breaks out. His words betray a weary resignation: "There's no dishonor in trying and failing to prevent a war." His plane lifts into the air, Serb soldiers ready missile launchers and air-defense guns that ring the airport, while machine guns rattle in the distance...