European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 07, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday november 7, 1993 the stars and stripes Page 3 bosnian together but worlds apart warring sides envoys coexist at Rhein main by Chuck Robert staff writer Rhein main a Germany representatives of the three warring factions in Bosnia have lived and worked together for nine months Here As part of opera Tion provide Promise. In , the three men Al born in Sarajevo coexisted peacefully. They talked with one another and eve went Bowling together after work. Their Job is to assist in the Airdrop of emergency Relief supplies and serve As Liaison offi cers Between the United nations and the people they represent in Bosnia and Herzegovina. But Tike relationships Between their countrymen at Home theirs have deteriorated. Although they live within a few feet of each other at the base hotel the bosnian government and croatian representative shave not spoken to the serbian representatives for the past two weeks. Reconciliation seems As Remote As it does for their country. But they Are stuck with each other. Al three said they plan to remain at Rhein main until the conflict is Over. They can not leave the air base because they do not have German visas. The serbian representative one of twofer his Side visited his family for the first time a few weeks ago and now will Beable to do so every two months. But the bosnian and the croat have not be enable to visit their families because of the danger and the unlikely Chance of pass ing serbian checkpoints. Each spoke individually about his relationship with the others and his personal views about former Yugoslavia. Slobodan Mitrovic is one of two serbian representatives. He represents Srp ska a Section in Northern Bosnia made up chiefly of ethnic serbs. Muslim soldiers arrested him in his apartment one night last year he said and took him to a prison where his Job Asa judge had taken him on numerous occasions. They wanted him to become Soldier for the muslims he said and gave him until morning to make up his  realized he had three choices join the muslims and shoot fellow serbs Fleeto the United states with his wife and two sons or help his people. I decided if i must shoot i would shoot with my people i must be with my  next morning he went to the United nations in Sarajevo and became a ser Bian representative to the . Force for three months before arriving at Rhein main on feb. 27. Part of his Job is to inspect emergency Relief supplies air dropped to former Yugoslavia from Rhein main. He claims his bosnian and croatian colleagues hardly Ever inspect supplies and he question Why they remain there. At the air base Mitrovic said he is looked upon As a dark and dangerous person. He said people Are afraid of serbs because his people have finally been Able to come to Gether As one unlike during world War ii when he said the germans tricked them into fighting one  Drew a serbian Symbol of a Cross with two is in the right quadrants and two reversed is on the left which he said Means Only together serbs Cai  Don t hate muslims and i Don t hate croatians but when someone shoots at us that s a problem Slobodan Mitrovic serbian representative they Serbia representatives try to show they Are powerful Here but we Are All equal  croatian representative ii Don t look at people As serbs croats or muslims. I m proud i grew up with people who All got along. Lived in an illusion that All of Yugoslavia was like that  bosnian government representative but Mitrovic said he wants to talk wit the others and has no hard feelings against his fellow representatives. "1 Don t hate muslims and i Don t hat croatians but when someone shoots at us that s a problem Mitrovic said. Mitrovic said he is often asked Why serbs can t live peacefully with muslims and croats. They can he said but the must live separately because muslims want to take Over what traditionally an rightfully belongs to Serbia. Muslims want to put us in the position like slaves Mitrovic said. Bosnia Herzegovina is artificial. It never existed he said describing the nation As a Small insignificant country sur rounded by serbs and croats. It was Serbia always and it will be inthe future Mitrovic said. Vlatko Tvrtkovic represents the croatian Section of Bosnia and Herzegovina called Herceg Bosnia. Tvrtkovic was a civilian performing Logis tical work for the croatian Council of de sense when he was asked to make a three to seven Day trip to Rhein main. He packed Only one pair of pants and two shirts. That was 249 Days  said the problems with Mitrovic boiled Over a few weeks ago when serbs tried to justify a recent attack on Muslim enclaves. Ethnic distinctions Don t come easily to Tvrtkovic he said because he lived in an ethnically diverse neighbourhood and has travelled throughout Europe with a singing group composed of three serbs four croats and two muslims. For a serb to claim land in Bosnia be cause Many serbs live there is nonsense Tvrtkovic said. If i live in Australia can i say it s a croatian land although fighting continues Between croats and muslims Tvrtkovic and the representative of the bosnian govern ment which is primarily composed of muslims remain friends. He said that s because people must learn to live together if the spirit of Sarajevo is to survive. But Tvrtkovic said maintaining that mix is not possible with Mitrovic and the other serbian representative Nebo sea Klacar. They try to show they Are powerful Here but we Are All equal As to Mitrovic s complaint that he does t inspect Relief supplies the former importer exporter said he often visits the hangar where Relief supplies Are packed but he does t inspect because he trusts the Job being done by americans at the air base. Mufid Halilovic Calls himself the bosnian representative. Halilovic does not like to be called the Muslim representative because he said he is not a be Liever. Halilovic also came to Rhein main for a stay of Only a few Days but he arrived with one piece of excess baggage he would have preferred to have left behind a piece of shrapnel in his leg. At 25, Halilovic is by far the youngest of the three. He says his generation is partly to blame for what has happened in the former Yugoslavia because of its reluctance to become politically Active. I Don t look at people As serbs croats or muslims. I m proud i grew up with people who All got along Halilovic said noting that he too is the product of a diverse ethnic background. I lived in an illusion that All of Yugo Slavia was like  Halilovic was a mechanical Engineer before the War. More recently he was Active in a Sarajevo neighbourhood Protection group. Halilovic and three others were seeking shelter behind a House Dur ing an attack last june when he Felt something hot in his leg. He reached Down and Felt a wet spot on his sweat pants. Halilovic was evacuated to a Hospi Tal on the City s outskirts where he later received a Job with the government humanitarian affairs office. At Rhein main he sees part of his jobs a balance to the  Halilovic said being friends with serbs is difficult because you cannot be the Friend with someone who wants to kill  he does t think Mitrovic is a bad Man but a person trapped in Circum stances and floating Down the  but still Halilovic does t talk with Mitrovic. To do so would be like saying what he does is  Halilovic said he would at least like to hear the word sorry from his Serbia colleague. Halilovic rejects both Mitrovic s claim that muslims want to dominate serbs and the serbs historical claim to the land in dispute. But even if those things were True he said it would still make an extremely Lousy excuse to