Plavšić consequently withdrew her request and commended Arkan for "protecting" Bijeljina's Serbs from the Bosniaks.[47] She called him a "Serb hero ... who was prepared to give his life for his people", adding that "we need such people".[50] She then thanked and kissed Arkan in public to which the local members of the SDS responded with "shouts of approval".[47] In a conversation with Cedric Thornberry, a United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) representative, she described Bijeljina as a "liberated" town.[47] Abdić was initially turned back at gunpoint,[38] but was later able to enter.[48] He was then kept in custody by Arkan until Plavšić arrived to release him.[51] "Bijeljina was practically empty," he recalled.