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No problem. I am an American citizen with no Balkan roots (my ancestors on both sides came to the US from England in the 1640s). I was a UN Civil Affairs Officer in Sector North, Croatia, from May 1995 until the close of that Mission on January 15, 1996 (UNCRO Mission). I was then transferred to the UNTAES Mission in "Eastern Slavonija, Baranja and Sirmium" ("Sirmium," the old Roman name, was used because of the disagreement between Serbs and Croats of the correct spelling/pronunciation -- "Srjiem" vs. "Sriem" -- so, for the sake of appearing neutral, "Sirmium" was revived for the name of the Mission.) I remained there until late January 1998. I also went into Bosnia on occasion when humanitarian need was great. The only time I was in Kosovo was as a child in 1972, travelling with my family on vacation, returning to our home in Switzerland from Greece. Now it's your turn.

Drat this new "experimental," "it's up the air!" search! I know a saw a post from you to me (don't know how old it was -- been away from FR for awhile with my broken arm) saying you were hoping to visit former Yugoslavia soon. Now the search function has gone all funky on me and I can't find your post again. Sorry if this is all now out of date! My old offer of giving you touring advice, places and people to see, still stands. (Not to mention delicious things to eat!) Just let me know when/where you plan to visit and I'll help all I can. Would also love to hear back from you afterwards with an account of your trip!

So of all the handles on FR you need to know more about me? Well my background is military i.e. Light Armored Recon., I moved from Rhodesia when I was very young and have lived in various other countries after that. I served in the UNFICYP mission in 1981, then on the UNPROFOR Mission in 1992 and worked in the surrounding area of a Serbian village called Okucani, then in 1999 I participated in the UNMIK/KFOR mission in Kosovo for about a year or so (non NGO) and I like beer. Are you a blond?

I've been waiting to see if you'd ever come back so finally we can get some things squared away.

When I posted some of Miro Bajramovic's confession of the torture/death camps and prisons of Serbs in Croatia, Wraith dismissed it as being something from one man's website (even though a search would show many hits for that confession).

According to Wraith, those of us who weren't there can't know what was going on, yet you were there, and even longer than Wraith.

We need to find out why Wraith wasn't aware of the torture/death camps of Serbs, but you were. Was it because you circulated in different parts, was it the timing, did Wraith not always know where to look? How could he not be aware of something you mention happened on a large scale? Please tell Wraith where a few of them were and what was done with the Serbs' bodies.

You also saw a crazy murderous Croatian man who killed the elderly in action, and though you went to officials, once you said his name, these officials said they could do nothing about it. Can you tell us this man's name?