The Big Breach - Index of

The Big Breach; From Top Secret to Maximum SecurityCompliments of http://www.192.comdiplomats from the Balkans desk wanted a meeting with Karadzic in hisheadquarters in the village of Pale just outside Sarajevo to understandbetter his negotiating position in the ongoing ICFY talks. As there wasno other British diplomatic representation nearby, String Vest asked meto organise the trip. Getting permission to travel from Sarajevo toPale was not easy, as it meant negotiating a safe passage through theBosnian-Muslim and Bosnian-Serb front lines, not to mention clearingthe trip with the obstreperous French UNPROFOR contingent in Sarajevo.I'd arranged a meeting with them at 1800 that evening, but we'd beenheld up when a Spanish UNPROFOR APC crashed in front of us, blockingthe road.`We'll never get there unless we leg it,' Tosh answered back.`Listen, Tosh, this is your last warning, if you don't lift off a bit,I'll have to drive,' I slapped down the sun visor against the lowwinter sun which was reflecting from the day-old snow that covered theabandoned fields and returned to my briefing notes.`Shit, Jon's lost it!' shouted Tosh urgently, slamming on the brakes ofthe Discovery.I spun round in the seat to see the comms-wagon completing a somersaulton to its roof, 50 metres behind us. Tosh brought the Discovery to ajuddering halt on the ABS and gunned it into a three-point turn to getback to the accident scene. As we skidded to a halt alongside, Jon andBaz were crawling out of the wreckage, dazed and shaken, but thankfullynot hurt. `Yer bastard,' muttered Baz as he got to his feet andsurveyed the remains of the comms-wagon. `We'd better call the AA.' Thevehicle had rolled twice before ending on its roof in a ditch, and evenif it could be repaired it would be off the road for several weeks.`Black ice, there was nothing Baz could do,' Jon apologised to me.We now had to replan the next few days. `Tosh, set the HF up,' orderedJon, `We'll have to get Jim to fly the spare comms-wagon up fromSplit.' There was no way that the French would give us permission totravel from Sarajevo to Pale for the Karadzic meeting in a singlevehicle, so it was imperative that Jim acted fast. I left Jon and Bazto guard the crippled vehicle against scavengers until the REME (RoyalElectrical and Mechanical Engineers) recovery unit arrived, and set offwith Tosh in the Discovery for the meeting with the French.The 48 hours were a whirlwind of meetings to debrief DONNE and sort outthe Pale trip. The recalcitrant French commander eventually agreed toallow the diplomatic visit, but not until his decision was eased by twobottles of Scotch. Multiple meetings with the Bosnian-Muslim militiaand several cartons of cigarettes eventually secured a safe passagethrough their lines, though they were deeply opposed to Britishdiplomatic contact with the Serbs. Finally, Major Indic, thetemperamental Bosnian-Serb liaison officer in the PTT building, agreedto give us permission to travel onwards through Serbian-held territoryto Pale, though, to show who was boss, he made me wait in his officefor six hours before he would agree.602 troop were working just as hard. Jim managed to get the sparecomms-wagon on to a Hercules arriving in Sarajevo the evening beforepage- 120 - To purchase the original limited edition hardback version of this bookplease call 08000 192 192 or go to http://www.192.com