SARAJEVO, April 5 -- Three years after war erupted in Bosnia- Herzegovina, the conflict appears no closer to a solution but residents of Sarajevo are increasingly optimistic the predominantly Muslim Bosnian army will win the fight. 'I think that our army will eventually take control of all our country,' said Omer, a 64-year-old Sarajevo woman. 'Our army is now very organized and very modern and strong, and I have no question that in a very short time it will all be over.' Another young woman said the worst of the war was yet to come, but the Bosnian army was prepared. 'At the beginning of the war, the Bosnian Serbs had all of the weapons, we had only heart,' said 24-year-old Bernarda. 'Now we have heart and the weapons needed to finish the job.' Sarajevo historian and political analyst Vlado Azinovic says such confidence is not just wishful thinking. After three years of fighting, the Bosnian government army has transformed itself from a ragtag band of weekend warriors into a well-organized and better-equipped fighting force. 'In the last year or so the Bosnian army has become a very respectable force,' he said, 'and this is something that the Bosnian Serbs are recognizing as well.' The predominantly Muslim forces did not initially inspire such respect. Three years ago, on April 6, 1992, the U.N. recognized the independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The same day the Serb minority rebelled against the government, opposing its secession from the former six-republic Yugoslavia.
From the beginning of the conflict, Bosnian Serbs had the upper hand in the fighting, having assumed control of most of the heavy equipment, tanks, artillery and mortar launchers from the defunct Yugoslav People's Army. 'They (Bosnians) were outgunned, and still are to some extent,' said Azinovic. 'But more importantly now there is a solid internal command structure. They still lack a lot of heavy equipment like tanks, but they are now making their own arms in Konjic, southwest of Sarajevo, and of course obtaining weapons in other ways.' Despite his belief that the government army is now better able to defend the country, Azinovic said he disagreed with those who believe a solution to the conflict can be found by continued fighting. 'Where I don't agree with many of my countrymen is that the end has to come on the battlefield,' he said. 'We must have some political diplomatic solution to this war. On the battlefield this thing could take decades. No matter how well equipped we are now, both sides are tired.' Azinovic said he believes the Bosnian government's relunctance to extend the current cease-fire should not be looked at as a march toward more war. U.N. officials are desperately pushing for the extension of the four-month cease-fire that expires April 30. 'The fact that Prime Minister Haris Silajdzic rejected the Contact Group's suggestion that the cease-fire be renewed until the Serbs sign on to the peace plan, only means that the war of diplomacy is continuing. The Serbs are quite isolated and he wants to push them towards the peace table,' Azinovic said. The international Contact Group has devised a peace plan for Bosnia, roughly dividing the republic in two, 51 percent of the land going to the Muslim-Croat federation and 49 to Bosnian Serbs, but Serbs rejected the plan last August. With both sides now at a stalemate over the question of renewing the cease-fire, Bosnian Muslims, Croats and Serbs will mark the passing of three years of war with continued fighting and death on the battlefields near Bihac, Tuzla and Doboj in north-central Bosnia. (release at will)
