Bosnian Muslim leader retires

Izetbegovic standing down two years early

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (Reuters) -- Bosnian Muslim leader Alija Izetbegovic has announced his retirement from public office after leading his country through 10 turbulent years of war and peace.

Izetbegovic said in June he would quit the three-member collective presidency because of poor health and tensions with the international community, but emphasised in a farewell speech that he would remain active in his party.

The withdrawal of Izetbegovic, 75, came within a year of the departure of his two main Balkan rivals and co-signatories of Bosnia's 1995 peace deal -- the late president Franjo Tudjman of Croatia and former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic.

Tudjman, who died last December, was ostracised by the West for hard-line nationalism, while Milosevic conceded defeat in presidential elections earlier this month but only after a sudden popular uprising.

Unlike them, Izetbegovic decided of his own free will to quit office, bowing out as the Muslim member of a three-member presidency two years before his mandate expires.

In a ceremony attended by Bosnia peace coordinator Wolfgang Petritsch and other diplomats, the Muslim speaker of the state parliament Halid Genjac was appointed on Saturday to replace Izetbegovic until the next parliament chooses his successor.

Genjac, a member of Izetbegovic's Muslim Nationalist Party of Democratic Action (SDA), said Izetbegovic had secured an honourable place in history, having led the central government against Serb and Croat separatists in the 1992-95 war.

"The role of President Izetbegovic in defence and affirmation of Bosnia's values, his wisdom, steadiness and persistence in building the institutions of Bosnia ... can serve as an ultimate ideal," said Genjac.

The Croat and Serb presidency members expressed gratitude for Izetbegovic's contribution to their joint work and praised his readiness to compromise when conflicting interests blocked constructive decision-making.

In choosing early retirement, Izetbegovic also cited "misunderstandings" with the international community, which oversees and sponsors Bosnia's post-war recovery with billions of dollars.

He accused it of pushing policies "at the expense of the Muslim people," which he said was an injustice. "These are things I cannot live with. Somebody must come in (instead of me) who can deal with such problems," he was quoted as saying.

The West recently criticised Izetbegovic and his party over the slow rate of free-market reform and their failure to enable faster returns of Serb and Croat war refugees.

Izetbegovic himself delivered a speech summarising the activities of the joint presidency this year, and said the Dayton treaty that ended the war and preserved Bosnia as an intact state had been implemented too slowly.

"Its value was to enable us to build a better Bosnia ... in peace and with democratic means," he said, describing the treaty as "better than war but far away from a just peace."

He said the cost of delays in implementing all provisions of the treaty was too high, citing high unemployment and the large number of refugees -- particularly Muslims -- still unable to return safely to homes where former war foes now prevail.

But he expressed hope that improved cooperation with Croatia and new democratic change in Yugoslavia would help resolve many issues still impeding progress in Bosnia and the whole region.

"I was a witness and a participant of all these turbulent events. By leaving the presidency, I do not leave public life," said Izetbegovic.

He had announced earlier that he would devote time in future to his party, which he founded in 1990.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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