Dangerous Liaisons

"There was no one at the Railway Station in Podgorica, no journalists, TV crews, police or relatives, since nobody knew what had taken place. The passengers, who survived the ambush in Strbci, waited for the whole day for the incident to be officially confirmed. Only then were the people informed about the abduction of several score passengers - calmly and with no emotion, leaving it to the public to infer on its own who had taken them away and why. But, we were struck dumb upon hearing the announcement of the Montenegrin Ministry of Interior Affairs, issued two days after the abduction, which said that the federal authorities would undertake and already are undertaking all measures so that the abducted citizens of Montenegro are found and returned as soon as possible ..."

This is one of the stories that several hundred passengers of the fast train, number 671, which was stopped on the Belgrade-Bar Railway on February 27 on the territory of the former republic of Bosnia-Herzegovia, had to tell, asking to remain anonymous. "Why would you publish my name and thus make me a target", a panic-stricken passenger said.

"Only fools are brave nowadays. I don t even know from whom to protect myself because of the announced truth. Because if the authorities had wanted to make the testimonies known to the public, they could have easily done so. They could have met us, talk to us and issued an announcement. At first, we wanted to do it on our own, but were put off and severely warned by this silence. The silence which hurts, as these people who have been left there are our acquaintances, friends, and the citizens of this state, which was two months ago covered with placards saying "the power of the state". I wouldn't be surprised if they announced tomorrow that the kidnappers are patriots, of if they were awarded for that "achievement". There is nothing accidental of unpredictable about it. Everything is being done according to a plan".

It was immediately clear to us who the kidnappers were. A bearded man with the cockade of his fur hat entered our carriage and shouted outloud "We are the Serb Chetnicks", said a middleaged woman, who was at that moment "scared out of her wits". A man with a machine-gun who accompanied him, greeted a passenger in the nextdoor compartment. That s how we learned that they are from Niksic. They forcefully threw out one Moslem, not even allowing him to take his belongings. None of us heard that they had looked for or kidnapped some Serb. We are simply confused, why that was stressed in the announcement later on.

"When the train moved on from Uzice, a police patrol passed through railway cas. They looked at passengers and asked those suspicious whether they had arms, inspecting the luggage and coats. It never occurred to us when the train stopped that we were in Bosnia, and that it had not been a routine control searching for blackmarketeers and saboteurs. A finger on the machine-gun trigger made your blood run cold", a twenty year old man said. He stressed that he had never felt as helpless as when he saw his peer being escorted, with a machine-gun barrel against his back, especially when he noticed an empty look in his eyes and his chin trembling ...

There are various views of this classic abduction of citizens, the crime which will be long talked about, but the reaction of the official authorities which ensued, that is, the silence which prevailed, which even more so come under the public scrutity. Taken everything into consideration, it seems that only the ethnically clean trains will run on the Belgrade-Bar line. This is confirmed by the announced list of the abducted passengers. Only 18 Moslems have been identified so far.

Whether the goals of this operation force the silence over the, as it has been generally agreed, inapporpriate fesponse of the authorities - is the question which can be heard these days and which no one considers separately from the sum of aspirations and events caused by the functioning of the joint state.

Only a few do not relate this to this summer s events in Pljevlja, the outcome of the court trial in Bijelo Polje, the forming of the new Government or to the events in the zone of Prevlaka. And everything is, on the other hand, to be tied with the intention to discipline the Montenegrin leadership, which is no longer hiding the fact that it is not ready to obey the Belgrade regime without question. Moreover, successful diplomatic activities of Montenegro are being promoted with fanfare, which is the reason why the world views this federal unit with affinity, while expressing readiness to lift the burden of ever detrimental sanctions from its back.

By accommodating the Moslems, expelled from Herzegovina, and by releasing the information that they had been denied hospitality in Serbia, Montenegro has scored significant points in the international public. The question remains whether such fame could "kill" the Montenegrin authorities, but the fact is that it was these Moslems whom the media targeted and accused of reselling the food, which they had received as relief. But, while the Montenegrin authorities kept pointing out that they would not at any cost allow a possible change of Montenegro's constitutional and legal status, nor consent to unequal representation in the bodies of the federal state, the abduction on the Belgrade-Bar railroad took place. The citizens' abduction is also being hushed up by Montenegrin President Momir Bulatovic ( the pleas of the relatives of the abducted people to be received by the Montenegrin President have not been met until this text was written ), and the ruling party is silent as well.

The silence of the authorities make us suspect them as an accomplice, says the Social-Democratic Party of Reformists, whicle the Citizens' Forum points out that such criminal act could force the Montenegrin Moslems to self-organize, which would provide an excuse for the Belgrade based directors of the war to spread the war to Montenegro and, thus, make it forever conquered ethnically clean site of fire.

The Headquarters of the Second Army Distric has announced laconically that the indident is not within its competence . since it took place on the territory of the other state which is not under their control. "If we aren't controlling them, then they are controlling us and holding us hostage", is how the citizens of Podgorica respond.

It is generally believed in Montenegro, that the abduciton may be taken as a blow against the Belgrade-Bar Railway ans a threat that the railroad might be severed. One bullet had several aims-- to warn the Montenegrin leadership and to st4rain the relations between the Moslems and the Montenegrins. The authorities have missed the opportunity to win another point on the international political scene, and, primarily at home, by reacting adequately. This way, the citizens of Montenegro have lost their feeling of safety.

At the same time, beating and murders of the Moslems have come into focus of the public attention, while the latest accusations made by radicals Ceko Dacevic and Vojislav Seselj regarding the events in Cajnice, supply the cover up for actions carried out in the bordering village of Bukovica. No one is able to establish a number of the local Moslems, sho have been captured and handed over to the members of the Bosnian Serb Army. It was reported that the figure exceeds 30, while according to the source the latest still not verified information says that the are some 70 captured Moslems. But, no one is able to release the correct figure, since there is no access to Bukovica - the village is under blockade. The younger population has sought refuge outside Montenegro, while the others stayed with their relatives in Pljevlja. Whoevere leaves for a visit with their elderly parents, never returns. Many claim that the residents of Bukovica are being caught by the members of the police force reserves, and then transferred to Bosnia. Everything is coordinated, they add, and a part of the plant to complete ethnic cleansing of Pljevlja, Prijepolje and Priboj. Nobody is obviously against this measure. Neither the police, not the army, which secures the border.

While the results of all undertaken measures are being expected, the information has leaked out that the abducted passengers are - in Visegrad. The optimists take this for granted, while the others claim that the passengers are no longer alive. It has yet to be seen who will be responsible for this, but for an already noticed wave of pressure by extremists in other places in Montenegro as well.