THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 15, 1994 TAG: 9412150452
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A22 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: LOS ANGELES TIMES
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines
Former President Jimmy Carter said Wednesday that he will visit Bosnia-Herzegovina at the invitation of Bosnian Serb warlord Radovan Karadzic to try to mediate an end to the bloody Balkan war - provided Karadzic follows through with a six-point plan to ease tensions.
Carter told CNN that, if he makes the trip, he will not ``take sides'' in the war but will listen to the views of both the Muslim-led Bosnian government and Karadzic's Serb insurgents, who have seized more than 70 percent of the territory of the former Yugoslav republic.
That evenhanded approach contrasts with the official policy of the Clinton administration, which regards Bosnia's Serbs as the primary aggressors in the conflict and considers the government and its supporters to be the victims. The administration has accused the Serbs of a long list of war crimes stemming from their policy of ``ethnic cleansing,'' a program of murder, torture and intimidation intended to force non-Serbs out of areas under Serb control.
In a CNN interview, Karadzic said he outlined to Carter a six-point plan intended to ease the crisis. It included an immediate cease-fire in the Sarajevo area, along with pledges to end the harassment of U.N. relief operations, release detained U.N. troops, free Bosnian government soldiers younger than 19, permit the reopening of the Sarajevo airport and guarantee human rights in areas under Serb control.
Carter said he will accept Karadzic's invitation if the Serb forces keep those promises, which he described as ``a step in the right direction and an improvement on his position over the past few weeks.''
``Mr. Karadzic assured me that all of the tangible moves would be made immediately and then the world could see for itself that he was indeed going to honor the things that he had committed to do,'' Carter said.
In a terse written statement, the White House expressed skepticism that Carter's intervention would be enough to settle the conflict that has bedeviled the international community for almost three years. But it welcomed Carter's effort.
``While we are skeptical about the Bosnian Serbs' intentions, if the steps outlined by Karadzic are implemented, they would help reduce tensions and ease the humanitarian situation in Bosnia,'' the White House said.
``The next step would be agreement among the parties on a country-wide cease-fire and renewed negotiations on a political settlement,'' the statement said.
The administration will give Carter up-to-the-minute intelligence information about Karadzic's compliance with his promises, a senior administration official said.
The official said Carter told Clinton that he would make the trip only if the Bosnian Serbs keep their pledge and ``President Clinton thinks that is a very prudent course.''
The intervention is the third by Carter in less than a year in areas of diplomacy that usually are the exclusive sphere of the White House and the State Department. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Carter
by CNB