ONE man was killed and six people, including a six year old boy, were wounded yesterday in a grenade attack on a tram in central Sarajevo.
French Nato troops deployed along Sniper Alley returned fire with 20mm cannon towards the Serb held suburb of Grbavica which is due to revert to government control next month under the Dayton peace plan. The soldiers also reported a stream of sniper fire coming from Grbavica, some 200 yards from Sniper Alley across the Miljacka river, and dispatched a patrol to seek its source.
The first Sarajevan to die since the plan was signed in December lay on a carpet of glass on the floor of the tram.
Bosnian police blocked off traffic as more shots rang out along the street, a reminder of the days before the arrival last month of Ifor, Nato's Implementation Force.
The Serb leadership represented by Mr Momcilo Krajisnik, the assembly speaker, since Dr Radovan Karadzic is barred from contact with lfor as a suspected war criminal wrote to Admiral Leighton Smith, the Ifor commander, demanding that he postpone until September 15th the hand over to the Bosnian government of five suburbs around Sarajevo. Mr Krajisnik warned that without such a postponement which he wanted by today there would be a mass exodus of Serbs from the area.
Yesterday several explosions rocked Grbavica and other suburbs as Serb forces apparently blew up and set fire to buildings. A huge column of smoke rose over Grbavica and at dusk four fires could be seen burning in the hills north of the city. One large building was razed, its beams burning furiously for at least two hours.
Last month, Serbs in the five suburbs said they would not stay without guarantees of safety from the Bosnian government yesterday it bowed to pressure and issued an amnesty to all Serb soldiers save those listed as war criminals, to all government deserters and draft dodgers. The gesture failed to impress in Grbavica.
"Why should we need their amnesty?" one man asked crossly. "It's an amnesty to keep me here in prison," added his friend. "It's rubbish. We lost our houses on the other side and now we have to leave here too."