Nachricht Nummer : 366 Übertragungszeit : 3 min 54 sec Nachricht von : WAM@ZAMIR-ZG.comlink.de (Wam) Betrifft : Zagreb Diary on 2 January, 1994 Kopienempfänger : /APC/YUGO/ANTIWAR, /CL/EUROPA/BALKAN Erstellungsdatum : 02.01.1994 23:34:00 W+1 Zagreb Diary 2 January, 1994 Dobar dan, When I was doing the spelling checking yesterday I found out something "funny", all those names of villages and cities are of course not delivered in the standard set of words of the dictionary, so I have to learn the programme to except them. In such case you can find out about which village you already wrote and which one is new. In this case more names in BiH were known than in Croatia. I like to try to write some history today, or at least describe a whole story about a convoy and not some fragments. I have gathered over the days all the reports I could find and read about the "White Road to Nova Bila" convoy, to see if I could figure out what happened. Some where in the beginning of December, just after Sint Nicholas , I think this convoy of I think over 90 trucks left Zagreb (most got together and loaded in Split some days later) in order to get through to the Croatia enclave (pocket) of Nova Bila in central Bosnia and more precise to the Franciscan Hospital there. There was a lot of publicity around this convoy and famous Croatian doctors and even some members of parliament joined it, as well as members from national and international press. We pick up the convoy at the 17th of December, just two days after in Split has started another convoy, organised by the BiH embassy in Zagreb with 50 vehicles heading for Maglaj. The white road convoy released a press report that day saying that the Maglaj convoy is on Croatian territory now and that Croats are not hindering them. The white road convoy was held up at that moment, didn't get any security for safe passing through the BiHarmija controlled area's. So Croat's are not, according the press report, taking revenge and they are not using the Maglaj convoy to negotiate free passing for the white road convoy. This day, 17th there was a meeting of the convoy leaders, local HVO and BiHarmija commander and a UNPROFOR general. The white road convoy leaders promised to bring part of the aid to the hospitals in Zepce and Zenica and to the Jewish community also in Zenica. The next day the convoy resume it's journey. Two day's later, at the 20th of December, however the convoy was still held up by another BiHarmija checkpoint at Pavlovic. UNPROFOR sources reported that BiHarmija found in one of the trucks 5.000 detonators, 10.000 initators, 1 box of sniper sights and 9 Motorola's ("walky talky"). The driver of course knew nothing about his load, it was just but on his truck in split. Together with UNPROFOR and the local HVO and BiHarmija commanders they work out an agreement. From the convoy one truck of coal and one truck of flour should be delivered in Stari Vitez and one truck of flour in Kruscica. Further on HVO should let the Maglaj convoy go freely through the Travnik area. The white road convoy has only 24 hours to unload in Nova Bila and one driver has to stay behind as hostage to secure the time. Last but not least 40 tons of aid should stay as security that one truck of the Maglaj transport, which was broken and had to be repaired in Croat controlled territory has reached BiHarmija controlled territory. For the rest the HVO commander said that the BiHarmija demands were "blackmail" and the weapons a Muslim conspiracy. The white road convoy deliver 4 trucks to Stari Vitez and Kruscica, but didn't get the permission to bring the aid to the Jewish community in Zenica and around 16.00 they arrived in Nova Bila. UNPROFOR announces later that the Maglaj convoy has totally passed Croat held territory without any big problem. The convoy leaders are able to get another day in Nova Bila, but in the morning of the 22th they have to leave. The convoy leader said yesterday that he hopes for the best, since all the documents were confiscated by BiHarmija and the Croatian Red Cross cables to Geneva to asks IFRC to asks the BiH government to secure the safe passages. So leave, all except one doctor who stays behind in the hospital, for Prozor as the first etappe for the way back, they get on the way back 8 warriors from the British UNPROFOR as protection and have to drive in groups of 10 trucks, without covers to make checkpoint controls faster. And before the day is over the convoy get in-between a fight of BiHarmija and HVO, 6 people are injured (only one had to be brought to Split hospital) and the driver Ante Vlaic is killed. Later reports both from UNPROFOR and the convoy says that not one of the trucks came through without bullet holes and that they also shot aimed at the UNPROFOR vehicles. Further on there is not much happening until some days ago at the 27th the convoy driver Vlaic was brought to his grave at the Mirogoj cemetery in Zagreb. 30 trucks drove before going to Mirogoj in a silent protest passed the UNPROFOR headquarters and the BiH embassy. At a press conference later a Japanese journalist who was in the car with the killed driver said that Vlaic could have been saved, he didn't died immediately, but that UNPROFOR soldiers said that they had no time. Father Tomislav Duka, member of Croatian parliament and co-driver in one of the convoy trucks said on the same press conference that Croatia has enough energy and determination to defend the interest of the Croats living in central Bosnia. He continued that under no circumstances this area should be sacrificed for certain political goals. And I can tell you that most humanitarian aid convoys are also not with such political goals as this one obvious had. The International convoys drive with a lot less publicity and it would be impossible to write their story , when you have to base your sources on Croatian press, it simply mostly isn't mentioned. Mir from somewhere in Hrvatska, Wam ------------------------------------------------------ "Zagreb Diary" can be found on a lot of different electronic networks, it is copyright free and can be ported to any network or other means of communication you like, but please drop my a line, you can reach by sending a message to wam@zamir-zg.comlink.de . Zagreb Diary is dedicated to Tyche, Pjort and Rik, so that they found out what there father have been doing all that time in Zagreb. Financial support for Grassroot relief work in Croatia or BiH can be send to Kollektief Rampenplan (atn. Lylette, Postbox 780, 6130 AN Sittard, Netherlands, tel:. +31-46-524803 and fax: +31-46-516460 or to Zagrebacka Banka, Zagreb, accountnr.: 2440291594, to Kat, Pieter Jan Herman Fredrik, Brace Domany 6 6fl nr3 (postbox 33), 41000 Zagreb. Please notify me if you send or have send any donations. Old numbers can be found by sending a message's with as subject "FILES" to pakrac.info@ZAMIR-ZG.comlink.de, to order a file send a message with subject "SEND " to same address. ## CrossPoint v2.93 ##