Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, May 15, 1993 TAG: 9305150104
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: From the Los Angeles Times and The Associated Press
DATELINE: BELGRADE, YUGOSLAVIA LENGTH: Medium
The fractious pan-Serb conference organized by Milosevic exposed deep rifts among the region's Serbs, whose quest for unity through the forcible building of a "Greater Serbia" has ripped apart the former Yugoslavia and sparked ethnic fighting that has left an estimated 150,000 missing or dead.
Milosevic had summoned elected and self-styled Serb lawmakers from throughout the war-torn Balkans to marshal support for a peace plan repeatedly rejected by Bosnian Serbs.
While the session produced a symbolic endorsement of the proposed settlement, the vote came only after bitter verbal clashes between rivals and supporters of Milosevic that prompted dozens of the deputies to storm out.
Milosevic has skillfully recovered from several earlier incidents that threatened his grip on power, but observers of the disastrous first attempt at creating a pan-Serb parliament said that it likely marked the beginning of the end of his rule.
Meanwhile, in Washington, President Clinton said his threat of military force to halt the war in the former Yugoslavia "is still on the table" despite opposition from European allies. But he emphasized the United States would not act alone.
Clinton said he would "keep pushing in the right direction" with a dual policy for the arming of Bosnian Muslims and limited bombing of Serb artillery. "It has not been rejected out of hand," he said, adding that some allies have agreed with it and others "are not prepared to go that far yet."
Forced to put his policy on hold, Clinton said that a U.N. plan to station troops on the Bosnia-Serbia border to monitor a blockade of supplies was "a very good next step."
Asserting he wanted to increase pressure on Bosnian Serbs, Clinton said, "The best way to do that would be to lift the arms embargo with a standby authority of air power in the event that the present situation was interrupted by the unfair use of artillery by the Bosnian Serbs."
"That position is still on the table," he said. "It has not been rejected out of hand."
At the U.N., France tested Clinton's threat of military force to halt the war in the former Yugoslavia on Friday by proposing an international army of up to 40,000 troops to occupy hot spots in Bosnia.
The Paris government circulated a proposal among the 15 Security Council members that spells out how to protect Muslims in six besieged Bosnian cities.
The council on May 6 declared the cities "safe areas," which should be free of armed attacks. It called on Bosnian Serb forces to withdraw immediately from the areas but provided for no enforcement.
France's proposal, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, is designed to put in the teeth.
The plan says air power - something Clinton has suggested - should be used "to confront potential major aggression."
It also challenges the United States to contribute ground troops to the U.N. peacekeeping operation, something Clinton has resisted. France and Britain have contributed the most troops to the current U.N. mission in Bosnia, with 5,000 and 2,500 peacekeepers respectively.
by CNB