Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 11, 1994 TAG: 9402110111
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: From The Associated Press, The New York Times and The Washington Post
DATELINE: SARAJEVO, BOSNIA LENGTH: Medium
Initial reports from U.N. officials played down the significance of the barrage and suggested it was not sufficient to trigger retaliatory air strikes under provisions of NATO's Wednesday ultimatum.
There were unconfirmed reports of fatalities, but no further details on what appeared to be the most serious violation of the latest truce. NATO gave Bosnian Serbs 10 days to withdraw their guns and lift the siege of Sarajevo or face air strikes. The declaration also gives U.N. chief Boutros Boutros-Ghali authority to order immediate bombing runs against any artillery or mortar positions that continue to attack civilians in the capital.
In Geneva, where leaders of Bosnia's factions gathered for new peace talks, Serb leader Radovan Karadzic refused to negotiate and denounced NATO. He demanded a public investigation of a mortar shelling Saturday that killed 68 people in Sarajevo and prompted NATO's threat of intervention.
Karadzic claims Saturday's shelling was a setup by Bosnia's Muslim-led government to kill its own people, blame the Serbs and win international sympathy.
The United Nations later agreed to form an international panel to investigate the Saturday attack, and allow Serbs to participate, U.N. officials said. The peace talks were to resume today.
In Bonn, meanwhile, Germany's foreign minister said the United States and the European Union were discussing joint diplomatic peace efforts for Bosnia, as part of a dual-track effort - including the NATO threat - to end the war.
For more than a year the United States refused to take part in negotiations on the war. Senior American and European officials said Thursday, however, that the administration is telling its European allies it will press the Bosnian government to accept partition of the country along ethnic lines.
In another shift, the United States indicated a willingness to lift sanctions against Serbia on a step-by-step basis. The sanctions would be eased "in response to cooperation at the bargaining table," a senior administration official said.
The United States also has scaled back its commitment to help enforce an eventual peace settlement and would contribute only one-third of the ground troops necessary, instead of half as envisioned in current NATO plans.
Karadzic's generals warned they would hold foreign aid workers hostage if NATO followed through on its demand for the Serbs to withdraw heavy weapons from around Sarajevo by Feb. 20.
There was no immediate comment from Boutros-Ghali or U.N. officials in Bosnia on a U.N. response to the cease-fire violations.
The 15-member Security Council scheduled a rare, full-dress debate on Bosnia today, council President Roble Olhaye said. The debate, urged by Russia and non-aligned nations, will be open to all 184 U.N. members, but will not lead to any vote, he said.
by CNB