Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 22, 1993 TAG: 9304220018
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: TUZLA, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA LENGTH: Medium
U.N. officials accused the former allies of committing wanton murders in "ethnic cleansing" operations.
The battles have fractured the central region into many fronts, further diminishing hopes for a U.N. peace plan for the Serbs, Muslims and Croats.
Radovan Karadzic, the Bosnian Serbs' leader, refused to meet with a key mediator Wednesday. He later said a meeting was possible, indicating he was concerned about Western military intervention.
President Clinton on Wednesday again held off deciding whether to adopt a more aggressive strategy to force a settlement. He said he was seeking a consensus with European allies.
Clinton said approval in the U.N. Security Council of tougher economic penalties against the Serbian-dominated government of Yugoslavia "should give you some hope that the allies will be able to arrive at a common position."
The president said he had talked with British Prime Minister John Major and French President Francois Mitterrand about permitting weapons shipments to the Bosnian government and even stronger military measures.
Clinton said the allied leaders had not given him "a final response" and that they would resume their discussions over the next several days.
Meanwhile, U.N. officials announced they had disarmed the Muslim defenders of Srebrenica and said a cease-fire was holding around the eastern town ringed by Serbs.
The U.N. Security Council decided to dispatch a five-nation fact-finding mission to Bosnia today, primarily to investigate Srebrenica, which the world body declared a safe haven last week.
The council also was preparing a statement saying it was "appalled by reports of the atrocities and killings of civilian population" in central Bosnia, where a truce reached Tuesday failed to stop a sixth day of combat.
U.N. observers estimated at least 250 people had died.
Col. Bob Stewart, commanding British peacekeepers on U.N. duty, told the British Broadcasting Corp. his troops witnessed "children held in the arms of their mothers and shot."
"Whole families have most certainly been killed," he said.
Cedric Thornberry, deputy head of the U.N. mission in former Yugoslavia, said executions and massacres were committed by both factions.
Muslims and Croats have been nominal allies against the Serbs since Bosnia seceded from Serb-dominated Yugoslavia 14 months ago, but they have periodically battled over territory.
Croat militia spokesman Veso Vegar said the Muslim-Croat truce accord had been extended to the southwestern city of Mostar, to take effect Friday. He claimed, however, to have intercepted radio messages from Muslim commanders telling their troops to fight on.
by CNB