Bosnian Croat troops quit posts

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina -- More than 7,000 Bosnian Croat troops are reported to have quit their posts in support of a call for self-rule.

Barracks had been sealed and only "a few" guards from the Croat contingent, known as HVO, and the NATO-led Stabilisation Force SFOR remained to guard facilities and weapons stores, the Bosnian Croat news agency Habena said.

"More than 7,000 members of the HVO out of a total of 8,000 left their barracks today and went home," the agency reported, citing a statement given by the command of the Croat component of the Federation army on Wednesday.

The international civilian and military peace officials declined to confirm or deny the figure, but urged the troops return to their barracks.

The revolt is the most serious challenge to the Dayton peace accords which divided Bosnia into a joint Muslim-Croat federation and Serb republic since they were signed in 1995.

Officials emphasised that the rebellion has so far been unarmed.

"They're still guarding their weapons storage facilities which means there are still people in barracks, I don't have exact numbers to give you," said Captain Andrew Coxhead, a spokesman for the SFOR.

Bosnian Croat nationalists split from the federation and declared self-rule earlier this month in response to their exclusion from the government following elections in November which brought a non-nationalist coalition to power.

Habena also quoted the self-styled Croat National Congress spearheaded by the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party as saying it would pay 500 German marks ($225) to each soldier who had quit over the next few days, a process it said had begun last week.

Western officials said it was difficult to establish to what extent the soldiers who left their barracks genuinely supported the revolt and to what extent they felt under pressure.

"It really is difficult to get hard figures, to measure the extent of this as a mutiny," said one.

"While a lot of Croats are unhappy, a lot are also unhappy with the HDZ," he added.

The spokeswoman for the top international peace overseer in Bosnia, Alexandra Stiglemayer, said those leading the revolt were likely to be punished for breaking the law but those at lower levels would not, since they may have been forced.

"The actions of a few extremists in the HDZ are aimed at destabilising the country which after so much hardship has finally turned the corner and is on the road to recovery," she said .

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Bosnia-Herzegovina

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