Yasushi Akashi, former special envoy of the UN Secretary General in former Yugoslavia, who was called to testify by Radovan Karadzic’s defence, on Wednesday told the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) that a shell that killed over 60 people and wounded 144 in Sarajevo's Markale marketplace in February 1994 could have been fired by either side: by the Bosnian Serb forces or the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The wartime Bosnian Serb political leader Karadzic was indicted by the Hague-based UN tribunal for genocide and other war crimes such as the 44-month long siege of the Bosnian capital and shelling of local residents.
Akashi told the tribunal today that a special task force which he set up after the massacre could not determine with certainty which of the warring sides had fired the mortar shell.
They (experts) concluded that the shell could have come either from the Serb side or from the positions of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The conclusion I accepted was that the attack could have been launched by either sides, the Japanese diplomat said.
He also stated that the Bosnian Muslim leader Alija Izetbegovic had not shared enthusiasm for negotiations, scheduled to take place in Geneva.
