ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times

DATE: Monday, March 31, 1997                 TAG: 9703310108
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL   PAGE: A-4  EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON

CLARK PICKED FOR NATO POST

Army general helped stop fighting in Bosnia.

President Clinton has picked Army Gen. Wesley K. Clark to be top NATO military commander and head of U.S. forces in Europe, senior defense officials reported Sunday.

``We wanted someone who's both a soldier and a statesman, someone with diplomatic and policy experience,'' a senior Pentagon official said. The announcement is expected today.

Clark, 52, brings to the job both a knowledge of Russian and extensive experience with the Bosnia problem.

He was the senior military member on the team, led by diplomat Richard C. Holbrooke, that brokered the 1995 Dayton peace accords, which stopped the fighting in Bosnia and set terms for the NATO-led peacekeeping force, whose recently extended mission is scheduled to end next year.

-THE WASHINGTON POST

LENGTH: Short :   29 lines