Two dozen arson fires roared across a Serb suburb of Sarajevo Monday, apparently set by Serbs intent on driving out the few remaining residents before Croats and Muslims take control.
A band of Serb police, apparently drunk, fired pistols in the air and lobbed two hand grenades into the Bosna River as they drove past Ilidza's town hall on their way out of the nearly deserted district.Other residents cried as they fled the suburb, which is to come under the control of Bosnia's Muslim-Croat federation on Tuesday.
Earlier, Mayor Nedjeljko Prstojevic participated in an emotional, largely ceremonial turnover to Dusan Sehovac, who heads the small group of Serbs determined to stay on after their wartime enemies take control.
He handed Sehovac the keys to the rundown town hall, wished him luck and voiced hope that the people who left would soon feel safe enough to return.
Prstojevic took a painting of St. George slaying the dragon outside to a wooden cross on the lawn, said a prayer and joined a few other fleeing Serbs in kissing the frame. Several Serb women wept.
Troops of the NATO-led Bosnian peace force took control from the last contingent of 20 Serb police. Others set up checkpoints on the main road linking Ilidza and Sarajevo, apparently to combat the security vacuum before federation police move in Tuesday under Bosnia's peace plan.
The shooting and grenade blasts exemplified the lawlessness and chaos gripping Ilidza and another Serb suburb, Grbavica, whose March 19 handover will complete the reunification of Sarajevo.
U.N. and NATO officials accused Bosnian Serb leaders on Monday of directing a campaign of arson and intimidation to drive fellow Serbs out of the two suburbs before Croats and Muslims take control. The violence and intimidation have compounded the deep fears of Serbs, who already have left the capital by the tens of thousands, afraid of reprisals after the takeover.
Monday, on the eve of Ilidza's handover, U.N. police reported about two dozen fires burning in the nearly deserted suburb.
Flames licking out the windows of a five-story apartment block in the suburb of Ilidza late Sunday sent occupants fleeing into the freezing cold.
Gangs were going house to house in Ilidza, telling people to leave, said U.N. spokesman Kris Janowski.