C. Wiebes - Intelligence en de oorlog in Bosnië 1992-1995. De rol van de inlichtingen- en veiligheidsdiensten - Engels

181and Jugoslavija Publik. According to press publications, in 1992 Bosnian Serbs allowed large parts of theJewish community in Sarajevo to leave the city in exchange for arms supplies from Israel. There weremore indications of Israel’s involvement: at the end of 1994, an investigation into the remains of amortar grenade on Sarajevo airfield revealed that it bore Hebrew letters, and in August 1995, a newsprogramme on Israeli television reported that private Israeli arms dealers were supplying the VRS. Thismust have taken place with the consent of the government. 936In summary: the VRS, like the ABiH, was supplied with arms, ammunition and oil on a largescale. Serbia, as well as other countries, was responsible. The supplies ran partly through the bordercrossings on the Drina, but also via Croatia. The ICFY mission did its best to monitor the embargo,but received hardly any intelligence, and was also not in a position to man all the checkpoints, so therewas a great deal that they were unable to observe.5. The deployment of mercenaries, advisers and volunteersThe fact that the war in Yugoslavia attracted mercenaries and volunteers was to be expected. 937 Thisphenomenon manifests itself in almost every armed conflict; examples are volunteers of theInternational Brigade in the Spanish Civil War in 1936-1939, or the Belgian mercenaries in Katangaduring the fighting in the Congo in the 1960s. The distinction between mercenaries and volunteers wasalso clear in Yugoslavia. The first group were paid for their activities; the second group were not, andthey fought for ‘a just cause’. A search in the press turns up many articles on the involvement ofmercenaries, volunteers and advisers. They are said to have operated with all the warring factions,where it is noticeable that some nationalities - such as British and Germans - worked for the BosnianCroats, the Bosnian Muslims and for the Bosnian Serbs.The first reports of Russian volunteer units, which consisted mainly of Afghanistan veterans,938appeared as early as the end of 1992. Russian mercenaries and advisers generally worked for the VRS.According to accusations made by the Bosnian government, Russian military advisers were sent fromSerbia and more than 4000 mercenaries from Russia, the Ukraine, Romania and Greece supportedvarious paramilitary organizations. 939 Romanian mercenaries were supposedly fighting with the BosnianSerbs near Sarajevo in 1992. 940 Greek and Russian mercenaries were also involved in the attack onSrebrenica. A Greek Volunteer Guard, a unit based in Vlasenica, was formed in March 1995 and wasfully incorporated in the Drina Corps. 941 Only about one hundred men fought with this unit and inSeptember 1995 Karadzic decorated four members of the Guard with the medal of the ‘White Eagle’. 942The ABiH also intercepted a message from the VRS, which stated that the Serbian flag had been run upon the destroyed orthodox church. 943 Another message suggested that the Greek mercenaries shouldalso run up their flag, and that ‘because of the marketing’ this should be recorded on video. 944936 Glisic, Srpska Vojska, p. 27 and Igor Primoratz, Israel and the war in the Balkans, see: http://www.hr/darko/etf/isr2.html.937 For a good overview: Ripley, Mercenaries, pp. 40 - 59.938 MoD, MIS/CO. No. 2726, Developments in the former Yugoslav federation, no. 100/92, 21/12/92; UNNY, DPKO,coded cables. Janvier to Kittani, Z-2056, 06/11/95; Robert Fox, ‘Dangerous games of fact and fantasy’, The Daily Telegraph,10/02/93 and ‘Nederlands konvooi in oosten Bosnië overvallen’ (‘Dutch convoy attacked in east Bosnia’), De Limburger,30/05/94.939 NMFA, PVNY. Biegman to Foreign Affairs, attached Bosnian memo, 04/09/95.940 Ripley, Mercenaries, p. 57.941 Interview with Emira Selimovic, 21/10/98.942 Michas, Unholy Alliance, pp. 17-41.943 ABiH Tuzla. Komanda 2. Korpusa, Str. Pov. Br. 02/8-10-1223, 11/07/95.944 ABiH Tuzla. Komanda 2. Korpusa, Str. Pov. Br. 02/8-10-1224, 11/07/95 and interview with Semsudin Murinovic,17/0/99.