Bosnia and Herzegovina: NATO's troops raid bank suspected of corruption

Troops from NATO's Stabilization Force (SFOR) today seized documents from the headquarters of an allegedly corrupt bank in Bosnia and Herzegovina, drawing no protests in contrast to previous raids, when demonstrators clashed with SFOR, UN and other international personnel.

The raid on the Mostar headquarters of the Herzegovacka Bank "took place without incident, and five truckloads of documents were retrieved from the bank for further inspection," United Nations spokesman Fred Eckhard told reporters in New York.

During a previous action against the Bank on 6 April, Bosnian Croat protestors staged violent demonstrations. The Bank had been placed under provisional administration "following charges that it was involved in corruption and the funding of a Bosnian Croat separatist group, which was trying to set up an illegal parallel government," Mr. Eckhard said.

The UN Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina and its International Police Task Force did not participate in today's raid. "However, following the violence on April 6th, the Police Task Force suspended for 30 days 16 police officers who had been suspected of participating in the demonstrations that day," Mr. Eckhard noted, adding that those police officers had complied with their suspensions by turning in their uniforms and badges.