
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, January 7, 1994                   TAG: 9401070130
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Boston Globe
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

ANOTHER DIPLOMAT RESIGNS

Warren Zimmermann, former ambassador to Belgrade, resigned from the State Department on Thursday, apparently in protest over U.S. policy on Bosnia. He is by far the most senior career diplomat to quit over it.

The timing of Zimmermann's resignation - days before the NATO summit begins in Brussels, Belgium - is embarrassing for an administration that has been downplaying the significance of Bosnia for several months.

Zimmermann's resignation letter was not made public. He reportedly was upset that the United States had not taken a more forceful role in stopping the fighting. He was ambassador in Belgrade when Bosnia declared independence, which touched off the bloody conflict that has raged for 20 months.

In recent public statements, Secretary of State Warren Christopher has categorized Bosnia as one of the regional issues less important than U.S. economic security and promoting democracy in Russia.

But questions about how to get aid to besieged villages throughout Bosnia and whether the North Atlantic Treaty Organization will ever make good on its promise to break the stranglehold on Sarajevo and other cities are bound to come up at the Brussels summit, which opens Monday.

France has said it wants NATO to reassess its policy toward Bosnia and wants a discussion of the situation there to be on NATO's agenda.

Four less-senior career diplomats had previously resigned in protest over the policies of the Bush and Clinton administrations toward Bosnia.

by CNB