Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, April 5, 1994 TAG: 9404050166
SECTION: NATIONAL/INT PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: From The Washington Post and The Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Heavy fighting flared Monday in Gorazde, a supposed U.N. ``safe area'' that has been the site of some of the Bosnian war's fiercest clashes and the United Nations' greatest frustrations.
Administration officials differentiated that situation from Sarajevo, where heavy shelling ended in February after Washington and NATO allies threatened airstrikes.
President Clinton told reporters Monday, ``Whether we can recreate the conditions of Sarajevo anywhere else depends in part on the facts of each specific case.''
His statement came a day after a televised statement by Defense Secretary William Perry, who was asked if the United States would do anything to stop the fall of towns to Bosnian Serb forces. ``We will not enter the war to stop that from happening. That is correct,'' Perry said.
``I don't think they have a green light,'' Clinton said Monday in response to reporters' questions. ``We're looking at what our options are there. But it would really depend on, in part, what the U.N. mission wants to do there.''
The U.N. commander in Bosnia is to visit Gorazde on Wednesday.
Bosnian radio said the Serb forces had launched an especially heavy attack Monday morning.
With only four military observers in Gorazde, the United Nations has appeared helpless as Bosnian Serbs shell the city of 65,000 people.
U.N. officials say they can do little to supplement their military contingent in the Muslim enclave, which has been under siege for most of the two-year war.
The United States' reasons for doing nothing for now fall into three categories, officials said. First, U.N. peacekeepers, already stretched thin in Bosnia, are unavailable to monitor another cease-fire. The United States refuses to send any ground troops until a peace accord is reached, and other contributing countries say they have sent their share.
Second, the administration is wary of appearing to take the Muslim side while peace negotiations are continuing. Such a move might not only undercut Washington's ability to broker the talks but also provoke Russia, a historical ally of the Serbs.
Finally, administration officials hope for progress in peace talks in which the Serbs are being asked to give up land to a Muslim-Croat federation. Clinton appealed to the warring sides Monday ``to negotiate peace and get it over with.''
by CNB