SFOR troops on patrol

SFOR Deploys Troops Across Bosnian Serb Republic

The move follows an angry confrontation in the town of Brcko during the early hours of Thursday. SFOR troops were pelted with rocks by angry Serbs after attempting to take over the main police station in Brcko in one of the most serious incidents since the force arrived at the end of 1995.

The BBC's Orla Guerin reports from Banja Luka

The troops were attacked on their way to the main police station in Brcko, which is controlled by officers loyal to the former Bosnian Serb leader and indicted war criminal Radovan Karadzic. A NATO spokesman, Major Peter Clark, said he had received information that forces loyal to Bosnian Serb President Biljana Plavsic were going to take over the police station.

Unarmed United Nations police officers were evacuated from Brcko following the unrest. A SFOR spokesman said that at least 40 UN personnel had been removed because of fears for their security. NATO troops remained in Brcko, he said, and the situation remained calm but tense.

SFOR spokesman, Major Chris Riley, explains why they have pull out the UN police from Brcko
Dur: 3'02"

For several months, Ms Plavsic has been embroiled in a bitter power struggle with allies of Mr Karadzic.

The international community has made clear its support for Ms Plavsic. Last week, SFOR soliders took over the police headquarters in the President's stronghold of Banja Luka, which was also under the control of Karadzic loyalists. They met no resistance.

But in Brcko, local people were roused from their sleep by air raid sirens. Crowds poured into the streets, throwing rocks at the armoured vehicles and threatening troops with metal bars. Many of them shouted "Get out of here!". There were no immediate reports of injuries.

Karadzic supporters take to the streets

Brcko has long been one of Bosnia's main flashpoints. Situated in the north-east of the country, near to the Croatian border, most of its Muslim and Croat citizens were "ethnically cleansed" by Serb paramilitaries at the beginning of the war.

Throughout the war, the town was at the centre of a supply corridor stretching from Serbia to Serb-controlled northern Bosnia.

Now, Brcko's future is in the hands of international arbitrators. The difficult decision as to whether Brcko should remain in the Bosnian Serb republic, or be handed to the Muslim-Croat Federation, has still to be made.

Thursday's incident suggests that Karadzic loyalists may be organising resistance to Ms Plavsic's attempt to consolidate her power.

On Wednesday, they seized a television transmitter in Duga Njiva, which had earlier been taken by supporters of Ms Plavsic.

Meanwhile, Ms Plavsic, who was expelled from Mr Karadzic's Serbian Democratic Party (SDS), has launched a new party - the Serbian People's Union (SNS). At a ceremony launching the party, she declared that that "We have a good programme for our party, the same programme as King Petar Karadjordjevic". Karadjorjevic, an arch Serbian nationalist, ruled in Yugoslavia before the Second World War.