950807

Croatian Serb rebels give up

arms for safe passage

ZAGREB: Rebel Serbs, routed by a Croatian army blitz, began handing over their arms to U.N. peacekeepers on Monday in exchange for safe passage to neighbouring Bosnia, U.N. officials said.

The U.N. mediated deal could smooth the evacuation of tens of thousands of Serb refugees and defeated rebels from the Glina and Topusko areas to Serb-held areas of northern Bosnia.

"There is an agreement which was requested by the Serbs. The goal is to facilitate the movement of many people. We've heard there are as many 80,000 involved but that figure might be too high," said a U.N. official who asked not to be named.

The rebel Serbs, who carved out their own "republic" after Croatia opted for independence from former Yugoslavia in 1991, lost their last important town to the Croatian army on Sunday.

The fall of Glina, 50 km (30 miles) southwest of Zagreb and one of the first strongholds of the Krajina Serb revolt, capped a swift rout of insurgents who started Yugoslavia's breakup in 1991.

The Croatian army blitz launched on Friday sent tens of thousands of Serb refugees streaming towards the Bosnian border in the hope of reaching areas controlled by Bosnian Serbs.

Under the U.N.-mediated deal Croatian troops would hold their fire while Serbs handed over weapons to U.N. peacekeepers at four control points -- in Topusko, Glina, Zirovac and Dvor where the refugees would cross into Bosnia.

The exchange is certain to be tense and many Croatian Serbs are wary. A similar accord after the fall of a rebel enclave in May went awry, triggering a ferocious gunbattle and the capture of 2,000 Serbs.

There is no sure figure for the number of refugees and estimates range from 40,000 to 150,000. Many U.N. and relief workers are calling it the biggest single movement of people since war broke out in Yugoslavia four years ago.

Croatia has said that following its three-day army blitz the defiant Serb fiefdom of Krajina "no longer exists".

The Croatian army rolled over U.N. peacekeeping lines and then seized town after town. Mopping up exercises were expected to wind up the operation on Monday.

Many countries, especially Russia, condemned the Croatian advance across U.N. lines but the United States said it might open a window for a negotiated peace in neighbouring Bosnia.

"We certainly didn't want this to happen, we didn't urge it, but the facts may possibly give rise to a new strategic situation that may turn out to be to our advantage," U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher said.

Russian President Boris Yeltsin, whose country has severely criticised the Croatian advance, said he was trying to arrange talks in Moscow between Croatian President Franjo Tudjman and Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic. He said force might eventually be needed to halt the fighting.

A Russian Foreign Ministry official said Moscow might call for U.N. sanctions against Croatia for its military action against the Serbs, Interfax news agency said.

U.N. special envoy Yasushi Akashi visited the former rebel "capital" of Knin on Monday and called the vast flight of Serb refugees an "unfolding human tragedy".

Tudjman, visiting Knin on Sunday to survey the Croatian victory said: "The objective, democratic world is applauding our success, and those who are not sympathetic to our cause must admit Croatia has become a regional power without which no international order in this part of Europe will be possible."

Croatian firepower used to seize the Serb stronghold nestled in rugged mountains was staggering, the United Nations said.

"The amount of weaponry and heavy artillery was just astonishing," U.N. spokesman Alun Roberts told Reuters Radio from Knin.

The tide began to turn against the Serbs when Croatian troops retook the tiny Western Slavonia enclave in May. It was the first triumph over the rebels who seized 30 percent of the country after rejecting Croatia's secession from Yugoslavia.

The refugees' primary destination -- the Bosnian Serb "republic" -- was gripped by a power struggle between army boss General Ratko Mladic and political chief Radovan Karadzic.

Mladic has rejected a move by Karadzic to demote him. Bosnian Serb army commanders backed his rebellion and rejected orders by politicians whom Mladic accused of war profiteering.

Parliamentary deputies raised the stakes by supporting Karadzic and warned that disobedience would be punished.

Despite the dispute, which some insiders predicted would end in Mladic's favour, the Serb collapse could strengthen the Bosnian Serb army, alleviating its chronic manpower shortage and swinging the Bosnia war in the Serbs' favour.

"This will seriously alter the balance of power in Bosnia," said Alexander Ivanko, United Nations spokesman in Sarajevo.-Reuter