In their cross-examination of Safet Idrizovic, the defense teams of the six former Herceg Bosna leaders pointed out that “different views of the internal set-up of the country” supported by the BH Army and political leader Alija Izetbegovic had contributed to conflicts in Herzegovina. Idrizovic was the commander of the Jablanica Territorial Defense

At the trial of the six former Herceg Bosna leaders, their defense teams pointed out that in late 1992 the BH Army and its commander-in-chief Alija Izetbegovic had had diametrically opposed views of the internal set-up of the country. They did this in their cross-examination of Safet Idrizovic, commander of the Jablanica Territorial Defense.

In December 1992 in Zagreb, Izetbegovic was negotiating the division of BH into cantons with Mate Boban, Lord Owen mediating in the talks. At the same time, parts of BH Army were opposed to the internal division based on ethnicity, the defense claims. According to the defense, the differences led to conflicts between the BH Army and the Croatian Defense Council (HVO), because some of the BH Army troops refused to accept the division of the country that was being arranged in Zagreb by their commander-in-chief.

The witness denied the claims by saying that the HVO members had taken the talks about the cantonization of BH as signed, sealed and delivered even before any agreement had been reached. He went on to say that the BH Army members would have accepted any decision by its political leadership. When Vesna Alaburic, representing the accused Milivoj Petkovic, whether the war in BH could be seen as civil war because of the differences in opinion over the internal set-up of the country, the witness replied that the war could not really be categorized at all: it was “a religious war, a civil war and an aggression” at the same time.

In their cross-examination, the defense tried to challenge the allegations in the indictment about the planned offensive by HVO forces in the areas of Jablanica and Prozor in 1993. The accused Milivoj Petkovic joined in the examination of the witness on military matters. He tried to prove that at the beginning of the conflict, the BH Army in Jablanica and Konjic had been superior in strength to the HVO. It was therefore illusory to speak about any “planned HVO offensives”.

After Idrizovic said that the HVO, although inferior in number, had had heavy artillery dug in in positions on the hills around Jablanica that the BH Army “could only dream about”, Petkovic replied by saying, “if artillery won wars, then there would be no need to make infantry”. “Yes, General,” the witness replied, “but your artillery killed 35 of our men”.

The cross-examination of the witness will continue tomorrow. The next prosecution witness in the case against the six BH Croats will, as indicated, be testifying with full protective measures.