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

DATE: SUNDAY, February 13, 1994                   TAG: 9402130063
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: SARAJEVO, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA                                LENGTH: Medium

BOSNIANS HOLD ON TO BIG GUNS

Government and Serb fighters who had just begun surrendering their big guns to the United Nations stopped Saturday, but whether it was only a hitch in the 2-day-old truce or a more dangerous sign remained to be seen.

The day was full of ominous developments:

Despite U.S. and Russian pressure on the warring sides, peace talks in Geneva broke up with no progress reported, raising further doubts about the viability of the Sarajevo cease-fire.

The U.S. State Department ordered the families of diplomats and government employees to leave Yugoslavia immediately, embassy officials in Belgrade said.

The decision was precipitated by NATO's ultimatum to Bosnian Serbs to withdraw their heavy weapons from Sarajevo by midnight next Sunday or face air strikes. Many in Serb-dominated Yugoslavia support the Bosnian Serbs, and the U.S. government apparently is worried about a backlash against Americans if the air strikes are carried out.

Bosnian Serb TV showed film Saturday night of camouflage-clad fighters aiming shoulder-held ground-to-air missiles at imaginary NATO planes.

Bluffing and brinkmanship have characterized war and peace in the Balkans. It was unclear whether Saturday's developments meant the latest of many cease-fires was in danger of collapse.

The Serbs, while chafing at the NATO ultimatum, agreed as part of Wednesday's cease-fire to pull back their heavy weapons and put them under U.N. supervision. The order also applied to Bosnia's Muslim-led government.

After handing over several mortars and other big guns Friday, neither side turned in any weapons Saturday, said Maj. Jose Labandeira, a U.N. spokesman.

The Bosnian army turned over five guns Friday but decided to keep the rest for now, saying the Serbs had 10 times as many but had turned in only 13.

"They have many more weapons than we do, so they must hand in many more," said Gen. Jovan Divjak, the deputy Bosnian army commander.

Divjak charged the Serbs had withdrawn their big guns from the 12-mile zone around Sarajevo, but were hiding some or taking them to other battlefronts.

Keywords:
INFOLINE

by CNB