Disputed territory leaves peace at crossroads

December 10, 1995
Web posted at: 10:20 a.m. EST (0320 GMT)

From Correspondent Richard Blystone

POSAVINA CORRIDOR, Bosnia (CNN) -- The peace agreement reached in Dayton last month was a big step toward ending the war in Bosnia. But one dispute it did not resolve is the future of an area known as the Posavina corridor in northern Bosnia.

Both the Bosnian government and the Bosnian Serbs lay claim to that strip of land and consider it vital to their interests.

The Bosnian Serbs say they must have an east-west corridor to connect Serb held areas separated by government territory. The Bosnian government say its economy depends on having a route, from north to south, through the same area. The issue was left unsettled in Dayton awaiting arbitration next year.

The self-styled Bosnian Croat parliament passed a resolution Sunday demanding that mediators meeting in Paris Friday to formalize the peace accord "make every effort to return the entire Bosanska Posavina region to the federation" of Bosnian Muslims and Croats. The Bosnian government and U.S. mediators have ruled out renegotiating the division of territory in the accord.

If the dispute can be resolved, the Posavina corridor could become Bosnia's gateway to Europe. For now, it is located along the front lines only 30 miles from Tuzla airbase where government soldiers man the most sensitive point, facing the Bosnian Serbs.

"I'm afraid it'll still have to be fought over in the end," says one soldier stationed along the corridor.

According to the Dayton accord, each side will pull back more than a mile from confrontation lines by the third week in January. Three months later they are supposed to have withdrawn to barracks or areas designated by the international force, leaving the defense of both sides to NATO.

The Posavina front has been quiet recently but for a few harmless shots every few days. But can NATO forces silence the guns for good?

"I have to trust them," says another soldier. "I have no other choice."

Disputed territory leaves peace at crossroads

Related stories:

| CONTENTS | SEARCH | CNN HOME PAGE | MAIN BALKAN TRAGEDY PAGE |