Croats Fire on Muslim Crowd in Divided Bosnian City; 1 Dies

Croatian gunmen fired on about 200 Muslims visiting a cemetery Monday, killing one person, wounding many others and jeopardizing a key element of the Balkan peace agreement.

The attack was one of the worst outbreaks of violence in Bosnia-Herzegovina since the 1995 Dayton accord. The mayor of Muslim east Mostar, Safet Orucevic, was beaten; the city’s Islamic leader, Seid Smajkic, sustained a minor gunshot wound.

“I heard noise and then shots. I felt something hit me in the head,” said Dina Zuljevic, 45, who was struck by a stone. “I turned around, and I saw bodies on the street brought down by bullets.”

Stability in Mostar, the scene of Croat-Muslim battles during the war, is essential to maintaining Bosnian peace.

If Croats and Muslims, who are partners in a fragile U.S.-negotiated federation, cannot cooperate in the southwestern city they share, there is little chance Bosnian institutions that also include Serbs will survive.

International officials and witnesses said Monday’s fighting started when Muslims approached a cemetery on the Croat-held west side of Mostar to honor the dead at the end of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month, and were confronted by hundreds of Croats attending a Catholic carnival parade.

“The Croats started stoning them and then opened fire with weapons,” U.N. spokesman Alexander Ivanko said.

Nedzad Imamovic, a doctor in an east Mostar hospital, said a 64-year-old man was killed and 21 people were wounded, including four who needed surgery.

Croat police said in a statement that 18 officers were hurt, three of them seriously. However, Croat doctors reported only four injuries.

The city was tense after dark Monday, as an overnight curfew was imposed.

The federation government in Sarajevo, the capital, sent officials to investigate.