BOSNIA: GENERAL RATKO MLADIC REPLACED AS HEAD OF SERB MILITARY скачать в хорошем качестве

BOSNIA: GENERAL RATKO MLADIC REPLACED AS HEAD OF SERB MILITARY

(28 Nov 1996) Serbo-Croat/Nat Bosnian Serb Army commander and indicted war criminal - General Ratko Mladic - has been replaced as head of the Bosnian Serb military. The official handover ceremony was held on Thursday in Pale and was attended by four generals from Mladic's HQ as well as his successor General Pero Colic - but not Mladic himself. Meanwhile the first shipment of arms destined for the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina left the Croatian port of Ploce early on Thursday, headed for a storage depot near Sarajevo. The handover ceremony at the Bosnian Serb political headquarters of Pale came at the end of weeks of standoff during which Mladic had refused to obey orders dismissing him as head of the Bosnian Serb army. Mladic and his aides blocked a communications tower but the general stepped down on Wednesday under immense pressure from political leaders. Bosnian Serb President Biljana Plavsic fired Mladic and dozens of senior officers on November 9th and named the relatively unknown General Pero Colic to replace him. On his resignation Mladic named trusted deputy General Manojilo Milovanovic to take over but was refused. Colic officially took over command Thursday as Milovanovic looked on but Mladic - not seen in public for several months - was not present. SOUNDBITE: (Serbo-Croat) "Today we have accomplished the disciplinary part of the handover of duties between the headquarters (H-Q) of the (Bosnian) Serb army which General Milovanovic has been authorised and the General Staff of the (Bosnian) Serb army represented by General Colic. I certified this handover and it may have lasted a bit long but it is understandable bearing in mind that this is a very complex issue. I am using this opportunity to express my thankfulness to the commander of the headquarters so far (Ratko Mladic) on behalf of the (Bosnian) Serb people and Republika Srpska for everything H-Q did in difficult times. I hope that after this handover we will have a real one on the ground which will probably last a bit longer but I ask the generals to shorten that period. Thank you General, send my regards (to Mladic) and I hope that cooperation during the handover time will be satisfactory." SUPER CAPTION: Biljana Plavsic, Bosnian Serb President Mladic - seen here at a military inspection last December - was twice indicted for war crimes for the fierce way he conducted the Bosnian war. His decision to quit was a major concession to politicians who consider him a liability. In a separate development in the former Yugoslavia on Thursday the first shipment of arms destined for the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina left the Croatian port of Ploce. It is being transported to a Bosnian Army storage depot in Hadzici near Sarajevo. The weapons are worth 100 (m) million U-S dollars. The shipment is the first from the U-S government since the arms embargo to Bosnia was lifted earlier this year. The consignment of weapons is on the way to Bosnia by train and is due to arrive early Thursday afternoon. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...