HU OSA 350-1-1:563/1

World News Tonight

Item

Moving Image

22 minutes

English (Original)

January 17, 18, 19, 22, 24, 25, 1996

Not Restricted

television program

NOTE: Other material on the tape briefly talks about Palestine, Haiti, and in large part about Chechnya. January 19, 1996: Peter Jennings gives an outline of what was required to happen during the first 30 days following the signing of the peace agreement. All the factions were required to pull back their troops one mile from the lines they were at before the peace agreement was signed. They all have done so, which enables NATO to patrol the zone of separation. All sides were required to provide NATO forces with plans for minefields. In many areas the parties have cooperated, which allowed for 1,400 minefields to be identified. The exchange of prisoners is proving to be difficult, as only 225 prisoners of war have been exchanged. The Bosnian government still demands to know the fate of 25,000 Muslims, who, they insist, the Bosnian Serbs have not accounted for. Many of the missing Muslims are presumed to be dead. U.S. Secretary of State for Human Rights, John Shattuck, will travel to Bosnia to investigate alleged mass executions perpetrated by the Bosnian Serbs. David Ensor reports from Tuzla on surfacing evidence regarding alleged mass executions. Many NATO commanders believe it is not their duty to look into the allegations. Bosnian government television reported findings of a mass grave. More survivors are willing to speak out, as well. While pressures are rising to have NATO forces investigate the sites, they agreed to provide armed escorts to war crimes investigators, but refuse to guard them. Some Bosnians fear that without NATO's protection, crucial evidence of war crimes may be destroyed. Statements are made by NATO Ground Commander General Sir Michael Walter, Mevludin Orlic, a Srebrenica survivor, and Commander of the First Armored Division Colonel John Batiste. Footage included: an abandoned iron mine, a British tank patrolling the mine, Bosnian government TV: a man sifting through human bones; and Christian Science Monitor: human bones scattered in the soil near Srebrenica. January 22, 1996: David Ensor reports from Tuzla, on dozens of alleged mass graves throughout Bosnia which remain unguarded. Human rights activists are worried that NATO’s refusal to guard the sites will send the message that further killings will not be punished. The U.S. has promised the war crimes court that they will guard the sites from the air. Statements are made by NATO commander Admiral Leighton Smith, Ivan Lupis of Human Rights Watch, and U.S. Assistant Secretary of State John Shattuck. Footage included: Judge Richard Goldstone on his trip to Bosnia, and John Shattuck touring Srebrenica. January 24, 1996: John McWethy reports that American troops in Bosnia have been on high alert because of a possible terrorist attack against American troops in Bosnia. Aisa Abdullah Ali, an American sympathizer of Islamic fundamentalism, who is suspected in the 1983 bombing of a U.S. military base in Saudi Arabia, was sighted in Bosnia. U.S. government worries were heightened by the sentencing of Sheik Omar Abdullah Rahman in New York for a conspiracy to blow up buildings such as the UN headquarters. A statement is made by U.S. Secretary of State William Perry. Other footage available: U.S. troops in Bosnia, para-military mujahedin soldiers, mug shots of Aisa Abdullah Ali, and the 1983 bombing of the U.S. base in Saudi Arabia. In Sarajevo, the NATO Implementation Force suffered its first casualties. Two Portuguese and one Italian were killed when apparently some explosives at their base went off. January 25, 1996: The International War Crimes Tribunal will be taking a close look at a warehouse near Srebrenica where the walls are splattered with bullet holes and blood. Investigators suspect that Bosnian Muslim men were rounded up and killed in this ware house.