UN military observers had a James Bond complex and were distrusted by factions fighting in the former Yugoslavia in 1995, a jury heard.
The criticism came out yesterday at the trial of Nicholas Ribic, an Edmonton man facing kidnapping charges related to the hostage taking by Serb forces of UN military observers Canadian Forces Maj. Patrick Rechner and Capt. Oldrich Zidlik of the Czech Republic on May 26, 1995. Both men were detained for 24 days.
CONCEALED WEAPONS
Jurors listening to a transcript of evidence from a Canadian intelligence officer who was serving with UN peacekeepers at the time heard that UN military observers passed information about the warring groups to intelligence officers.
Witness A said this led to the observers routinely being rounded up by one faction or another in attempts to slow the flow of information.
Witness A said the observers weren't supposed to act as spies, but they did, going so far as to carry concealed weapons.
Witness A also said the UN's presence in the former Yugoslavia helped to prolong the war which was being fought largely by disorganized, untrained groups wielding weapons as primitive as muskets and engaging in archaic trench warfare.
'STATIC WAR'
Witness A said the UN peacekeeping mission served to create a "static war" with lines of battle that didn't move.
"The Muslim Croat Federation wasn't strong enough without NATO support," he said, adding that the Serbs weren't strong enough to move against NATO.
He said the stalemate led to a bizarre situation in which the various factions would simply launch artillery at each other but take very little in terms of territory.
sean.mckibbon@ott.sunpub.com