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YUGOSLAVIA: DEATH OF A NATION: NO ESCAPE {EPISODE 5} (TV)

Summary

The fifth part in this five-part series. This documentary series, narrated by Christiane Amanpour, details the dissolution of Yugoslavia. This episode begins at the Sarajevo Airport on December 18, 1992 with the arrival of Lord Owen, Europe's peace negotiator, who announced that outside military intervention would never occur. In the first months of the war in Yugoslavia, Srebrenica had become a refuge for thousands of Muslims driven from their homes. In spring 1993, the Serbs launched a massive offensive, as detailed by United Nations (U.N.) General Morillon. He recalls arriving in Srebrenica, stunned at coming "face to face with ethnic cleansing," and observing misery all around. Morillon sought out Muslim Commander Naser Oric. Afterward, when Morillon tried to leave the town, demonstrators refused to let him, based on an order from Bosnian government official Murat Efendic. Efendic proposed to keep Morillon until the general guaranteed the safety of Srebrenica's citizens. Morillon was held against his will for two days before he figured out how to turn the tables, inadvertently giving the U.N.'s support to the Muslims as Srebrenica was declared a "safe haven." General Mladic of the Serb army was less than pleased with the news. A week later, in Washington D.C. on April 22, 1993, at the opening of the Holocaust Museum, author and political activist Elie Wiesel implored President Bill Clinton to help stop the bloodshed in Yugoslavia. Lord Owen then details the U.N.'s idealistic plan for a new Yugoslavia, one divided into ten regions based on nationalities. Slobodan Milosevic, Serbian president, offers his thoughts on the plan, and why he supported it.

Then, Owen summoned all parties to a hastily arranged conference at the Astir Palace Hotel in Athens on May 1, 1993. Radovan Karadzic, Bosnian Serb leader, details why he was the sole party uninterested in signing the agreement. Eventually, Milosevic convinced Karadzic of the plan's benefits and talked him into signing. Next, Karadzic took the plan to the Bosnian Serb Assembly for final approval. Later, when, Mladic arrived at the assembly, he immediately convinced the Serb delegates that they were giving up far too much territory. Angered by the general's statements, Milosevic rose to speak and get the delegates back on his side. Afterward, delegates met in a closed-door meeting where they refused the plan; the Serbs wished to continue work on building their own independent state. Next, Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic met with Bosnian Croat General Praljak to figure out what to do with Bosnia and Croatia. Soon, the Bosnian Croats were turning on their Muslim allies, on orders from Croat President Franjo Tudjman. Muslim prison camps began springing up around Croatia, with individuals kept in underground fuel tanks. Then, in Zagreb, Croatia, on February 17, 1994, America supplied "strong-arm tactics," warning Tudjman to end his war with the Muslims or face U.N. sanctions. Weeks later, Tudjman and Izetbegovic signed an agreement, presided over by Clinton, to end the war between Croats and Muslims in Bosnia. Meanwhile, in a Sarajevo marketplace on February 5, 1994, a massive explosion killed sixty-eight people. Eventually, NATO offered an ultimatum to the Bosnian Serbs, giving them ten days to withdraw from Sarajevo. The demands were quickly refused by Karadzic and Mladic.

Later, Russian troops moved in around Sarajevo, bullying the Serbs into complying. With Sarajevo finding peace on its streets, a U.S. Embassy was opened there. Karadzic was not satisfied, however, wanting to attack the Muslim army in Gorazde, which had been previously designated a U.N. "safe area." After a NATO air strike on a Serb command post, Mladic retaliated by taking 150 U.N. personnel as hostages. Then, during a U.N./Bosnian Serb peace negotiation, Mladic continued shelling Muslim forces in Gorazde. Clinton demanded NATO strike the Bosnian Serbs immediately. In Belgrade, Serbia, on April 22, 1994, a U.N. special envoy brokered a cease-fire with Milosevic. However, by this point, the Bosnian Serbs had learned not to fear the international community and the U.N. The program ends with Amanpour reporting from Bosnia on the current situation in the former Yugoslav republic as 1995 draws to a close. She notes that Clinton forced through a peace deal in 1995 between the Bosnians, Serbs, and Croatians. She adds that 20,000 American troops are scheduled to arrive with NATO to enforce the peace. However, the Serbs kept Srebenica and other towns that they "cleansed," while Croats held on to areas where the original inhabitants were expelled. Amanpour concludes that "for the moment, the ethnic cleansers have won."

Details

  • NETWORK: Discovery Channel
  • DATE: November 22, 1996 10:00 PM
  • RUNNING TIME: N/A
  • COLOR/B&W: Color
  • CATALOG ID: B:53705
  • GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
  • SUBJECT HEADING: Public affairs/Documentaries; Talk/Interview; Yugoslavia; Serbia - History
  • SERIES RUN: Discovery Channel - TV series, 1996
  • COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

  • Nicholas Fraser … Executive Producer
  • Nancy LeBrun … Executive Producer
  • Susan Temple … Co-Executive Producer
  • Susan Winslow … Supervising Producer
  • Paul Mitchell … Producer
  • Kristina E. Larsen … Associate Producer
  • Walter Erdelitsch … Associate Producer
  • Tihomir Loza … Associate Producer
  • Michael Simkin … Associate Producer
  • Norma Percy … Series Producer
  • Angus Maqueen … Director
  • Debbie Wiseman … Music by
  • Christiane Amanpour … Narrator, Reporter
  • Bill Clinton
  • Murat Efendic
  • Alija Izetbegovic
  • Radovan Karadzic
  • Slobodan Milosevic
  • Ratko Mladic
  • Philippe Morillon
  • Naser Oric
  • David Owen
  • Slobodan Praljak
  • Franjo Tudjman
  • Elie Wiesel