December 11, 1995
Web posted at: 11:20 p.m. EST (0420 GMT)
From Correspondent Mike Hanna
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (CNN) -- With the signing of the Bosnian peace accord just three days away, the Bosnian army prepared Monday to return to barracks and make way for NATO peacekeepers. Bosnians cheered their soldiers in a parade in Zenica, while 35 miles away in Sarajevo, residents took to the streets in support of a unified capital city.
The parade in Zenica honored the 3rd Corps, a front-line military unit formed shortly after the beginning of the war three years ago. For this unit, the war has at least temporarily ended.
President Alija Izetbegovic, due to sign the Dayton peace agreement in Paris on Thursday, inspected the troops as they passed. The terms of the Dayton accord send the soldiers of the 3rd Corps back to barracks where they will remain while NATO forces attempt to implement a permanent peace throughout Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Advance NATO forces are already on the ground preparing for the mission, and the major threat, said a NATO spokesman, will come from individuals or small groups rather than from established armies.
"There are going to be rogue elements," said Colonel Albert Whitley. "The culture here is that every man carries a weapon. Some of them will be irresponsible and take whatever opportunity they can to disrupt our operation." (145K AIFF sound or 145K WAV sound)
Regular Bosnian army personnel staff checkpoints throughout Bosnia, preventing the free movement of U.N. forces as well as civilians, and policing the trickle of refugees leaving areas that will change hands in terms of the Dayton agreement.
In Serb-held suburbs outside Sarajevo -- to come under Bosnian control with the signing of the Dayton accord -- Serbs have threatened to wreck utility lines before their neighborhoods change hands. And some Serbs are preparing to flee, fearing reprisals from the Bosnian government after years of conflict.
But while some in Bosnia continue to drift apart, the demand in Sarajevo itself is that people come together. Bosnians and Serbs alike demonstrated in the capital on Monday in support of a unified city. The demonstration was a counter to repeated protests in Serb-controlled suburbs demanding that Sarajevo stay divided.
Among those supporting the Dayton agreement are Brajko Zivkovic and Branko Majmunovic. Both are Serbs who have lived on the Bosnian government side of the city since the beginning of the war.
"The Dayton peace will bring changes," said Majmunovic. "Sarajevo will be better than it was."
His friend Zivkovic agreed. "The Dayton agreement is the biggest chance for peace in Bosnia," he said.
And the Bosnian residents of Sarajevo were ready to accept the Serbs as neighbors.
"They were killing us and torturing us for four years, and now we are begging them to stay and live with us again," said Selma Kovac. "Yet, when I think twice about it, it's OK. Someone always has to be the first in offering the hand of reconciliation.
Monday's demonstration in the streets of Sarajevo marked the beginning of a new struggle, one aimed at convincing everyone that unity, rather than division, will create a lasting peace.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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