Letters: Conference hastened invasion of Krajina

Mr Tim Winter
Thursday 17 August 1995 23:02 BST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

From Mr Tim Winter

Sir: The deaths of two British aid workers in Bosnia (report, 16 August) raises urgent questions about the UN Protection Force mandate for Sarajevo. The men were driving at night without lights for fear of attracting the attention of Serb gunmen who routinely attack aid vehicles along the Mount Igman route.

The British and French troops deployed on Igman last month are authorised to defend UN convoys, but are under orders to refrain from protecting other aid vehicles. As a result, charities such as ours run a lethal gauntlet of Serbian gunfire casually levelled at us without fear of punishment.

The UN mandate on Igman has now resulted in two British deaths. More will certainly follow unless that mandate is changed to permit our troops to defend our aid workers. The UN claims to be in Bosnia to defend the relief effort of which the voluntary organisations are a key part - it must now be asked to put that commitment into practice.

Yours sincerely,

Tim Winter

Chairman

Bosnia Aid Committee of Oxford

Oxford

16 August

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in