Interview: Mr. Adil Zulfikarpasic,leader of MBO (Moslem-Bosniac Organization)

At the present, there are a few Serbian autonomous regions in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The agreement between the Serbian and the Bosnian people has failed. Because of that you were denounced as a traitor among the Moslems and you made enemies in Serbia and Croatia. Your attempt at reconciliation between the Serbs and the Moslems was also interpreted as helping Slobodan Milosevic to make his Great Serbia. Bosnia was running the risk of facing a civil war.

It was due primarily to the wrong politics of Izetbegovic (the President of B&H), Karadzic (leader of SDS /Serbian Democratic Party/ in B&H) and Kljujic (leader of HDZ /Croatian Democratic Union) in B&H). I shall list here only a few reasons which pointed to that: the secret phone conversations between Milosevic and Karadzic, the orders of general Uzelac (in connection with the so-called RAM plan), massive armament of the Serbs and often the Moslems as well, the statements of Mr. Tudjman concerning the division of Bosnia... Mr. Izetbegovic also took part in the preliminary talks about the historical Serbo-Moslem agreement. My party and I personally are deeply convinced that there is no real reason for confrontation between the Serbs and the Moslems in Bosnia. On the contrary, we believe that the successful coexistence of the two nations has deep roots. However, the agreement failed primarily because Izetbegovic and his party (SDA - The Party of Democratic Action) did not favour it. You see, there is a big difference between Bosnia and Croatia. I assure you that the war in Croatia is being waged for territories, in order to later create new autonomous regions. Despite the fact that it is already a tragic war, it would be even more so in Bosnia. There would be no fighting over territories. The Serbs already have them. It would be a battle for "destruction" of one nation and "clearing" the territories of the Moslems, i.e. my own people. The war in Bosnia would cause heavy casualties, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that it would lead to a complete extermination. This is why I still believe the agreement was our biggest political chance. And let me tell you this right away: what we managed to agree upon with the Serbs is the ideal which we shall either never or God knows when fulfill again; we would have Bosnia equal to Serbia and Croatia. Now it is torn apart, "cantonized".

Why do you think the division of Bosnia into cantons or regions would automatically mean a civil war?

The bloody conflicts may never spread to your republic. Mr. Izetbegovic and his party have been silently consenting to the division of Bosnia. The Serbs already have more than half of Bosnia, and they got it by peaceful means. First the atmosphere of hatred and fear was created in Bosnia, and then the krajinas (Serbian autonomous regions) started springing up. And now, shortly after the referendum, the Serbs have more than 50% of the Bosnian territory, and they represent only 33% of the B&H population. If we just stand by and watch it happen, and this is exactly what we are doing right now, all the ambitions of the ones advocating Great Serbia will be fulfilled. Mr. Izetbegovic keeps insistently convincing the public that the rejection of the Belgrade agreement was his great victory, since Bosnia has kept its peace. Under the same terms Mr. Tudjman could have avoided the war in Croatia and resolved his problem with the Serbian majority there simply by letting them have Slavonia, Baranja, Kninska krajina, a part of Dalmatia and thus reduce Croatia to a small territory. But Mr. Tudjman as well as all the Croatian politicians know that it would mean death to the Croatian people and their state. That is why they are fighting with all their might. You can see what is happening in Dubrovnik and in Vukovar. If the agreement we made was accepted by both Moslems and Serbs, we would have Bosnia united. But with the present state of affairs, it is very likely that as early as tomorrow the Serbs will hold another referendum and ask for the annexation to Serbia. I am therefore asking you: does that not represent the creation of Great Serbia? Izetbegovic, however, waged a fierce campaign against us, saying that our agreement is as good as treason, calling us traitors and Milosevic's collaborators. Let me remind you of the talks we had with Milosevic: we said to him that we shall never accept either the division of Bosnia or the creation of various krajinas, since for us that would mean - war. Milosevic openly declared that he does not favour the cantonization of Bosnia, but he also said that this concept is being used to put pressure upon the Moslems. Karadzic, Krajisnik (The President of the Bosnian Parliament and the so-called Serbian Assembly) and Koljevic (Bosnian Presidency member and one of the leaders of SDS) clearly explained to us that all we are faced up with today had been planned a long time ago.

Do you think that the representatives of the Bosnian Serbs will demand a special status for the Serbian population in Bosnia?

Out of tactical reasons and their own interests the Serbs will agree to accept the present borders of Bosnia, but with all the guarantees for their people. The European Community, which is not sufficiently acquainted with our situation, will gladly accept it. Thus the Serbs will actually have their Great Serbia. They will establish their own administration, they will become dominant and there will be no one to stop them from eventually becoming a part of the Republic of Serbia. The Moslems are mostly living in towns. Surrounded by such powerful krajinas, they will not be able to carry their intentions through. Izetbegovic and his party wanted no agreement with the Serbs. I consider that to be a betrayal of national interest.