==================================================

DATE=3/6/95 TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT NUMBER=5-19817 TITLE=BOSNIA /
MILITARY BYLINE=DOUGLAS ROBERTS DATELINE=SARAJEVO CONTENT=
VOICED AT:



INTRO:  BOSNIAN GOVERNMENT LEADERS ARE EXPRESSING GROWING
FRUSTRATION WITH THE FAILURE OF DIPLOMATIC EFFORTS TO END THE
NEARLY THREE-YEAR-OLD CONFLICT IN THE BALKAN STATE.  THERE ARE
CLEAR INDICATIONS THE GOVERNMENT IN SARAJEVO IS PLANNING A BID
TO RECAPTURE TERRITORY FROM SERB FORCES.  FOR THE MOMENT, A NEW
YEAR'S TRUCE CONTINUES TO HOLD IN MOST PARTS OF THE COUNTRY.
VOA'S DOUGLAS ROBERTS IN SARAJEVO REPORTS MOST ANALYSTS BELIEVE
IT IS JUST A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE FULL-SCALE WAR RESUMES.



TEXT:  FOR BOSNIA'S PRIME MINISTER, HARIS SILADZIC, THE MOMENT
OF TRUTH IS FAST APPROACHING HERE.  THE DIPLOMATIC PROCESS IS IN
LIMBO (SUSPENDED), HE SAYS, AND THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY HAS
NO  ANSWER TO THE CONTINUING BOSNIAN SERB REJECTION OF THE PEACE
PLAN PUT FORWARD BY THE FIVE-POWER CONTACT GROUP LAST YEAR.

                       // SILADZIC ACT //

         AND WE SEE A CONFUSED, IMPOTENT, AMBIVALENT        
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY TRYING TO FORGET ABOUT BOSNIA.        
THIS IS THE REAL PROBLEM.  WE HAVE NOW A STALEMATE,        
UNFORTUNATELY, AND IT LOOKS LIKE--LOOKS LIKE -- WE ARE        
GOING TO HAVE MORE BLOODSHED.

                          // END ACT //

THE NEW YEAR'S TRUCE IS ALREADY BEGINNING TO FRAY.  IT NEVER
REALLY TOOK HOLD IN THE NORTHWESTERN ENCLAVE OF BIHAC.  NOW,
SNIPER FIRE IS ON THE RISE IN SARAJEVO, AND THERE ARE REPORTS OF
BOSNIAN GOVERNMENT ATTACKS NORTH OF HERE.

COLONEL GARY COWARD, SPOKESMAN FOR THE U-N PEACEKEEPING FORCE, 
SAYS BOTH SIDES ARE TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE CEASE-FIRE TO GEAR
UP FOR WHAT COULD PROVE TO BE A MAJOR NEW OUTBREAK OF
HOSTILITIES.

                        // COWARD ACT //

         THEY ARE, IN MILITARY PARLANCE, REARMING, REFITTING,   
     RECONSTITUTING; AND ON THE BOSNIAN GOVERNMENT SIDE,        
 TAKING THE OPPORTUNITY TO REORGANIZE THEIR ARMY.  THEY        
ARE TRYING TO GO FROM WHAT WAS JUST ALMOST A GAGGLE        
(LOOSELY ORGANIZED COLLECTION) OF INFANTRY UNITS THAT        
WOULD GO OUT AND DO  NOTHING  MUCH MORE THAN STRONG        
FIGHTING PATROLS TO TRY AND CARRY OUT AN OFFENSIVE        
ACTION;  THEY ARE TRYING TO REORGANIZE THEMSELVES INTO        
WHAT IS EFFECTIVELY A MANEUVER ARMY.                            
      // END ACT //          BOSNIAN GOVERNMENT LEADERS MAKE  NO
 ATTEMPT TO CONCEAL THE MILITARY BUILD-UP, NOR ARE THEY RETICENT
TO TALK ABOUT ITS OBJECTIVES.  VICE-PRESIDENT EJUP GANIC:

                        // GANIC ACT //

         YES, WE ARE NOW TRYING TO REORGANIZE OUR ARMY TO
SUSTAIN         THIS PRESSURE AND, OF COURSE, TO MAKE SOME
ADVANCES HERE         AND THERE.  AND I THINK WE WILL DO VERY
WELL.

                          // END ACT // 

THERE ARE ABOUT 140-THOUSAND TROOPS IN THE BOSNIAN ARMY NOW. 
AND WHEN COMBINED WITH THE 60-THOUSAND IN THE ALLIED CROAT
MILITIA, IT GIVES SARAJEVO A DISTINCT MANPOWER ADVANTAGE OVER
SERB FORCES.          THE SERBS REMAIN SUPERIOR IN TERMS OF
FIREPOWER.  AND BOSNIAN LEADERS LOSE  NO  OPPORTUNITY TO DERIDE
THE CONTINUING U-N ARMS EMBARGO THAT THEY SAY HAS PREVENTED THEM
FROM ACHIEVING A BATTLEFIELD PARITY WITH THE SERBS.          BUT
CLEARLY, SOME ARMS ARE GETTING THROUGH TO THE SARAJEVO 
GOVERNMENT. LAST MONTH, U-N OBSERVERS RECORDED A SERIES OF
UNIDENTIFIED HELICOPTER AND FIXED-WING AIRCRAFT FLYING LOW, AND
POSSIBLY LANDING AT THE GOVERNMENT-CONTROLLED AIRPORT AT TUZLA,
NORTHWEST OF HERE.

THE MYSTERIOUS FLIGHTS DID  NOT  SHOW UP ON THE SOPHISTICATED
TRACKING GEAR EMPLOYED BY NATO, AS PART OF ITS ENFORCEMENT OF
THE NO-FLY ZONE OVER BOSNIA.  THIS LED SOME U-N COMMANDERS TO
SPECULATE THAT A FOREIGN GOVERNMENT, PROBABLY THE UNITED STATES,
WAS DELIVERING ARMS TO BOSNIAN TROOPS IN VIOLATION OF THE U-N
EMBARGO.           U-N OFFICIALS LATER PUBLICLY ACKNOWLEDGED
THERE WAS  NO  CLEAR EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT THAT CONTENTION.  AND
U-S OFFICIALS STRONGLY DENIED IT.  BUT WHATEVER THE TRUTH OF
WHAT HAS COME TO BE KNOWN AS THE TUZLA AERIAL MYSTERY, WESTERN
DIPLOMATS SAY THERE IS  NO   DOUBT THAT ARMS SUPPLIES ARE BEING
DELIVERED TO BOSNIAN GOVERNMENT FORCES BY LAND, AIR AND SEA.    
     THE BOSNIAN ARMY IS NOW BETTER TRAINED, BETTER PREPARED AND
  BETTER EQUIPPED, SAYS A SENIOR WESTERN ENVOY HERE, WHO ALSO
SEES A PARALLEL DECLINE IN THE MORALE, RESOURCES AND LOGISTICAL
CAPABILITIES OF BOSNIAN SERB FORCES.          HE ATTRIBUTES THE
DECLINE IN PART TO THE SERBIAN GOVERNMENT'S DECISION TO CUT OFF
SUPPLIES TO ITS ERSTWHILE ALLIES IN BOSNIA. AND HE ALSO BELIEVES
THE BOSNIAN SERB MILITIA IS OVER-EXTENDED. THE BOSNIAN SERBS
HAVE SEIZED 70 PERCENT OF THE COUNTRY, SAYS THE DIPLOMAT, AND
THE QUESTION NOW IS CAN THEY HOLD IT.

MOST ANALYSTS HERE BELIEVE A KEY FACTOR IN ANY NEW OFFENSIVE
ACTION BY THE SARAJEVO GOVERNMENT WILL BE THE DEGREE OF
COORDINATION BETWEEN THE LARGELY MUSLIM BOSNIAN ARMY AND THE 
CROAT MILITIA.

THE TWO ALLIES RECORDED ONE NOTEWORTHY SUCCESS LATE LAST YEAR,  
CAPTURING THE TOWN OF KUPRES FROM SERB FORCES.  THERE IS
CONTINUED HAGGLING BETWEEN MUSLIM AND CROAT LEADERS ABOUT THE
DIRECTION OF THEIR ONE-YEAR-OLD ALLIANCE, EMBODIED IN THE
FEDERATION AGREEMENT SIGNED IN WASHINGTON.  BUT WHILE POLITICAL
TIES REMAIN STRAINED, SPOKESMEN FOR BOTH SIDES SAY MILITARY
COOPERATION IS STEADILY INCREASING.

ONE WESTERN DIPLOMAT HERE SAYS HE WOULD  NOT  BE AT ALL
SURPRISED TO SEE ANOTHER COMBINED OFFENSIVE BY MUSLIM AND CROAT
FORCES. AND HE SAYS THAT COULD WELL CREATE NEW REALITIES ON THE
GROUND IN BOSNIA THAT COULD HAVE A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON THE
PROSPECTS FOR A NEGOTIATED SETTLEMENT OF THE CONFLICT. (SIGNED)

NEB/DBR/SKH/CF          06-Mar-95 11:07 AM EST (1607 UTC)  NNNN

Source: Voice of America



====================================================

DATE=3/10/95 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT NUMBER=2-175323 TITLE=
U-N/YUGO (L ONLY)  BYLINE= DOUGLAS ROBERTS  DATELINE= GENEVA 
CONTENT= VOICED AT: 



INTRO:   U-N OFFICIALS SAY THEY HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO SUSPEND  
HUMANITARIAN AID DELIVERIES TO THE SERBS OF CROATIA AND THEIR 
ALLIES IN THE NORTHWEST BOSNIAN ENCLAVE OF BIHAC.  SPOKESMEN FOR
 THE U-N HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES SAY THE SUSPENSION WILL 
REMAIN IN EFFECT UNTIL CROATIAN SERB FORCES LIFT THEIR BLOCKADE 
ON AID  SHIPMENTS TO THOUSANDS OF MUSLIMS TRAPPED IN 
GOVERNMENT-HELD PARTS OF BIHAC.  VOA'S DOUGLAS ROBERTS REPORTS 
FROM U-N-H-C-R HEADQUARTERS IN GENEVA.  



TEXT:   U-N-H-C-R OFFICIALS HAVE BEEN WARNING FOR WEEKS THAT  
THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE IN BIHAC ARE FACING STARVATION BECAUSE OF
THE CONTINUING BLOCKADE BY CROATIAN SERB FORCES.  SPOKESWOMAN
SYLVANA FOA SAYS ONLY FOUR AID CONVOYS HAVE BEEN  ALLOWED INTO
THE AREA IN THE PAST FEW WEEKS, DELIVERING LESS THAN TWENTY
PERCENT OF THE FOOD REQUIRED FOR CIVILIANS TRAPPED IN 
GOVERNMENT-HELD PARTS OF THE ENCLAVE.  HUMANITARIAN DELIVERIES
HAVE BEEN FURTHER RESTRICTED BY CONTINUED FIGHTING AT THE
NORTHERN END OF BIHAC BETWEEN BOSNIAN TROOPS AND  MUSLIM REBELS
LED BY FIKRET ABDIC, ALLIED WITH THE CROATIAN  SERBS.  MISS FOA
SAYS THE DECISION TO CURTAIL AID SHIPMENTS TO THE  CROATIAN
SERBS AND MUSLIM REBELS WAS NOT TAKEN LIGHTLY.  WE DO  NOT
NORMALLY PLACE CONDITIONS ON HUMANITARIAN DELIVERIES, SHE  SAYS,
BUT ADDS THAT THE SITUATION HAD BECOME INTOLERABLE.             
                          



///FOA ACT///

         WE THINK MAYBE BY USING THEIR OWN TACTICS ON THEM, WE  
       WILL SEND A VERY, VERY GOOD MESSAGE TO THE CROATIAN      
   SERBS AND THE ABDIC FORCES THAT WE CAN NO LONGER SIMPLY      
   GIVE THEM FOOD WHEN THEY BREAK THEIR PROMISES EVERY         
SINGLE TIME TO SAY THAT THE NEXT CONVOY IS GOING TO GET         
THROUGH.

                                    ///END ACT///



  MISS FOA SAYS THE U-N-H-C-R USED THE SAME TACTIC AGAINST
BOSNIAN  SERB FORCES TWO YEARS AGO WHEN THEY BLOCKADED AID
SHIPMENTS TO  BESEIGED MUSLIM ENCLAVES IN THE EASTERN PART OF
THE COUNTRY.   THAT PROBLEM, SHE RECALLS, WAS RESOLVED WITHIN A
WEEK.  MISS FOA SAYS THE LATEST AID SUSPENSION WILL AFFECT ABOUT
  110-THOUSAND PEOPLE IN TERRITORY CONTROLLED BY THE CROATIAN 
SERBS, AS  WELL AS ABOUT 30 THOUSAND CIVILIANS LOYAL TO THE 
MUSLIM REBEL FORCE IN BOSNIA.  THE U-N-H-C-R DECISION WAS
CONVEYED IN A LETTER TO CROATIAN SERB  LEADER MILAN MARTIC ON
WEDNESDAY.  SO FAR, THERE HAS BEEN NO   RESPONSE.  BUT U-N
OFFICIALS SAY THEY HOPE TO RESUME NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE CROATIAN
SERB LEADERSHIP EARLY NEXT WEEK. (SIGNED)

NEB/DBR/MH/GPT

10-Mar-95 10:58 AM EST (1558 UTC) NNNN

Source: Voice of America



=================================================

DATE=3/9/95 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT NUMBER=2-175291*
TITLE=SLOVENIA DEFENSE MINISTER (L-ONLY) BYLINE=PHIL KURATA
DATELINE=WASHINGTON CONTENT=  VOICED AT: 

             // RE-RUNNING WITH CORRECT CR NUMBER //



INTRO:  THE SLOVENIAN DEFENSE MINISTER JELKO KACIN IS IN 
WASHINGTON TO SIGN A MILITARY COOPERATION AGREEMENT WITH THE 
UNITED STATES.  V-O-A CORRESPONDENT PHIL KURATA SPOKEN WITH MR. 
KACIN AND FILED THIS REPORT.



TEXT:   IN WASHINGTON, MR. KACIN SAID SLOVENIA'S DECISION TO 
SPLIT FROM THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA IN 1991 AND BECOME INDEPENDENT 
WAS A CORRECT ONE.

HE SAYS ALTHOUGH A TEN-DAY WAR WAS NEEDED FOR THE BREAKAWAY, 
SLOVENIA TODAY IS THRIVING UNDER POLITICAL PLURALISM, HUMAN 
RIGHTS AND A MARKET-BASED ECONOMY.

SLOVENIA HAS JOINED NATO'S PARTNERSHIP FOR PEACE PROGRAM AND IS 
EAGER FOR FULL MEMBERSHIP IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC ALLIANCE.  TODAY
 (FRIDAY), MR. KACIN AND U-S DEFENSE SECRETARY WILLIAM PERRY
SIGN  AN AGREEMENT TO STRENGTHEN MILITARY TIES.

MR. KACIN SAYS IF SLOVENIA HAD OPTED TO REMAIN IN THE FORMER 
YUGOSLAVIA, IT WOULD TODAY BE EMBROILED IN THE BALKAN WARS.  HE 
SAYS SLOVENIA'S SOUTHERN NEIGHBOR, CROATIA, COULD ERUPT IN 
FIGHTING IF CROATIAN PRESIDENT FRANJO TUDJMAN CARRIES THROUGH ON
 HIS THREAT TO EVICT THE U-N PEACEKEEPERS THERE AFTER MARCH.

THE UNITED NATIONS HAS DEPLOYED PEACEKEEPERS AS A BUFFER BETWEEN
 CROATIAN GOVERNMENT FORCES AND REBEL CROATIAN SERBS WHO HAVE 
DECLARED THE BREAKAWAY REPUBLIC OF KRAJINA.  PRESIDENT TUDJMAN 
SAYS THE U-N FORCES ARE PREVENTING HIM FROM CRUSHING THE 
REBELLION.  MR. KACIN SAYS A FACE-SAVING WAY IS NEEDED FOR MR. 
TUDJMAN TO REVERSE HIS DECISION AND RETAIN THE U-N PRESENCE.

THE SLOVENIAN DEFENSE MINISTER ALSO HAS PLEADED FOR A LIFTING OF
 THE U-N ARMS EMBARGO AGAINST THE FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLICS.  HE
 SAYS SLOVENIA NEEDS WEAPONS TO IMPROVE ITS ABILITY TO DEFEND 
ITSELF.

HE SAYS THE BOSNIAN GOVERNMENT ALSO IS UNFAIRLY DEPRIVED OF 
WEAPONS IN ITS FIGHT WITH THE BOSNIAN SERBS.  THE EUROPEAN 
COMMUNITY SAYS THE ARMS EMBARGO IS NEEDED TO ENCOURAGE THE 
WARRING PARTIES TO NEGOTIATE.  

MR. KACIN SAYS THE BOSNIAN SERBS FAVOR THE ARMS EMBARGO BECAUSE 
THEY ARE SUPPLIED WITH WEAPONS FROM THE SERBIAN GOVERNMENT IN 
BELGRADE.  THE SERBIAN GOVERNMENT DENIES THIS.

MR. KACIN SAYS ARMING THE BOSNIAN GOVERNMENT WOULD HELP EQUALIZE
 THE FIGHT AND COULD ENCOURAGE PEACE TALKS.  THE CLINTON 
ADMINISTRATION IS FOLLOWING THE WESTERN EUROPEAN LEAD AND 
REFUSING TO SHIP ARMS TO THE BOSNIAN GOVERNMENT.  BUT SOME U-S 
LAWMAKERS FROM THE REPUBLICAN PARTY WOULD LIKE TO CHANGE THAT 
POLICY.  (SIGNED)

NEB/PK/LWM

09-Mar-95 8:35 PM EST (0135 UTC) NNNN

Source: Voice of America



-----------------------------------------------------------------
-------

                    B o s N e t  - Mar. 10, 1995 

==========================================



Perry and Dole on air strikes and embargo MANHATTAN, Kansas (9
Mart)



        Defense Secretary William Perry said Thursday he do not
see the prospects of a near-term political solution in Bosnia.
In a speech at Kansas State University he stressed that
Washington should continue its policy of trying to limit the
conflict and protect civilians in Bosnia.        Perry said
calls by some critics of Clinton administration policy in Bosnia
for air strikes against Serb forces and a unilateral lifting of
the arms embargo were dangerously flawed and could draw USA
ground forces into the fighting. The secretary added that even
if the USA were to lift the arms embargo the bulk of the arms
commitment would likely come from the USA, which would have to
transport supplies and train Bosnian soldiers.

        Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole sharply criticized
Perry's speech and noted the administration had advocated a
"lift and strike" strategy until Britain and France came out
against it.        Dole said other NATO countries supported
lifting the embargo and would join in if the United States took
the lead. He vowed to take up bipartisan legislation mandating a
unilateral lifting of the embargo if no peace was reached in
coming weeks.



UN stays in Croatia???



        Under pressure from the United States and other allies,
Croatia is ready to allow UN troops to stay on its soil but is
setting a high price, Western diplomatic sources said on
Wednesday.        The change of mood apparently came after a
visit on Monday by USA Assistant Secretary of State Richard
Holbrooke, who aimed to persuade Croatian president Tudjman to
change his mind.        In Washigton, State Department
spokeswoman Christine Shelly insisted that talks between
Croatian President Franjo Tudjman and Assistant Secretary of
State Richard Holbrooke were not the failure. She gave no
details, including whether or not Tudjman gave Holbrooke any
indication he might reconsider Croatia's decision to force UN
peacekeepers to leave the country.        UN officials said
Thursday they saw new signs of flexibility from both the Zagreb
government and rebel Serbs in talks to cut a deal aimed at
preventing the withdrawal of UN forces from Croatia. Kofi Annan,
the undersecretary-general in charge of peacekeeping, told
contributors to the UNPROFOR that "there are signs of
flexibility" by the Croatian government but an agreement had
still not been completed, according to participants.       
Bosnian Foreign Minister Irfan Ljubijankic said on Tuesday talks
in Britain had made him more confident Croatia would not carry
out its threat to eject UN peacekeepers, a step which would
further unsettle the Balkans. "What I heard at my meetings today
encouraged me that Croatia will agree to some kind of presence
of international troops. It is not already agreed but I was told
Holbrooke's visit was pretty encouraging," he said.

        The United Nations has rejected informal proposals to
replace peace-keepers with unarmed UN monitors along Croatia's
international border, UN officials say.        There is also
some recognition by the UN and the West that any future force
will need a different mandate, name and perhaps additional
functions such as patrolling the border to Bosnia and Yugoslavia
and helping to regulate economic agreements between Croatia and
the Krajina Serbs.        In return for concessions, Tudjman
wants the UNPROFOR to change its name, that troops be deployed
along Croatia's international borders with Serbia and Bosnia in
order to cut off the supply of arms to the Serbs.        Joseph
Kruzel, deputy assistant secretary of defense, told ABC
Television this week Croatia was being warned that if UN
peacekeepers are forced out "you will increase the risk of war
and if there is war, we think you will lose. And if you lose,
you are on your own because the West will have no sympathy."



NATO to agree on pullout plan? BRUSSELS, Belgium (March 8)



	NATO sources said alliance's military authorities were pushing
for the go ahead to "preposition" forces so as to be able to
carry out swiftly an order to evacuate the UN mission in former
Yugoslavia. One NATO source said that the NATO Council, the
alliance's policy-making arm, was anxious not to send out the
wrong signals while delicate diplomatic efforts were underway to
try and head off a threatened new round of fighting.        The
council, made up of ambassadors from the alliance's 16 members,
was briefed on the state of the pullout plan on Wednesday
following computer trials in Germany a few weeks ago.       
Approval to move to the stage of on-the-ground preparations
could now come as early as next week, one source said.       
Last month, the alliance allowed the military to begin building
the communications structure which would be used in any NATO-led
withdrawal of UNPROFOR forces.        NATO sources also stress
any pullout plan has to remain flexible enough so it can be
adapted to conditions on the ground at the time of the
operation, expected to be fraught with danger for some 40,000
troops, half of them American.    The current plan focuses on
pulling out UN peacekeepers from Bosnia if fighting flares when
a shaky ceasefire expires at the end of April.



Separatist Serbs blast Croatian-Bosnian war pact BELGRADE,
Serbia (March 9)



        The separatist Bosnian Serb leadership has denounced a
new Croatian-Bosnian government military alliance as a signal
for a "final battle" enveloping Croatia and Bosnia.       
Momcilo Krajisnik, a top official in the breakaway Serb realm
inside Bosnia said that this "final battle" can be expected "to
be final and decisive, the final attack on the RS and the
Republic of Serb Krajina (Serb-held areas in Croatia), for which
we must be prepared and to which we must respond with all the
means at our disposal."

        Meanwhile on Wednesday Serbian President Slobodan
Milosevic scored an important victory over radical breakaway
Serbs in Croatia. The parliament of the breakaway Krajina Serb
region in Croatia voted 37-25 on Wednesday against holding a
no-confidence vote against its prime minister, Borislav Mikelic,
as demanded by its president, Milan Martic.        Martic,
originally a Milosevic disciple, has recently aligned the RSK
more closely with the Bosnian Serbs and a joint military command
was established two weeks ago. His failure to depose Mikelic
might open a window of opportunity for fresh talks with Croatia
to head off remewed fighting once UN soldiers start withdrawing.
       "It's a victory for Milosevic as Mikelic is Milosevic's
man while Martic has turned to Pale," a Belgrade analyst said,
referring to the separatist Bosnian Serbs' base town near
Sarajevo.



Aid workers held in Bosnia said in good health PARIS, France
(March 9)



        A French parliamentarian visited five aid workers held
by Bosnian Serbs near Sarajevo on Thursday and reported that
they were in good health, the French Foreign Ministry said.
Jean-Francois Deniau "managed to meet the members of the convoy
of Pharmaciens sans Frontieres this afternoon and according to
the information he sent...they are in good health," a Foreign
Ministry spokesman said.





======================================================

DATE=3/12/95 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT NUMBER=2-175400 TITLE=U-N
CROATIA  (L ONLY) BYLINE=SONJA PACE DATELINE=COPENHAGEN CONTENT=
VOICED AT: 



INTRO:  CROATIAN PRESIDENT FRANJO TUDJMAN SAYS HE WILL ALLOW U-N
 PEACEKEEPING TROOPS TO REMAIN IN HIS COUNTRY EVEN AFTER THEIR 
MANDATE EXPIRES AT THE END OF THIS MONTH.  AT A JOINT NEWS 
CONFERENCE WITH U-S VICE PRESIDENT AL GORE IN COPENHAGEN, MR. 
TUDJMAN SAID HIS COUNTRY NOW WANTS A SCALED-DOWN U-N PRESENCE 
WITH A REDEFINED MANDATE.  SONJA PACE REPORTS FROM COPENHAGEN.

TEXT:  MR. TUDJMAN SAID HIS GOVERNMENT SEEKS A NEW MANDATE FOR 
INTERNATIONAL PEACEKEEPERS TO POSITION TROOPS ALONG CROATIA'S 
BORDERS WITH NEIGHBORING SERBIA AND BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINIA.  

                         //TUDJMAN ACT//

         CROATIA WILL SEEK  AN INTERNATIONAL PRESENCE IN CROATIA
         THAT WILL CONTROL THE INTERNATIONAL BORDERS BETWEEN THE
         REPUBLIC OF CROATIA AND THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF        
 YUGOSLAVIA, SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO, AND BETWEEN THE         
CROATIA AND THE REPUBLIC OF BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINIA, AT SUCH        
PLACES WHERE PRINCIPAL BORDER CROSSINGS ARE  NOT  NOW         
CONTROLLED BY AUTHORITIES OF THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA.

                           //END ACT//

PRESIDENT TUDJMAN SAID A FORCE OF ABOUT FIVE THOUSAND 
PEACEKEEPERS SHOULD BE ENOUGH TO DO TO THE JOB.  UNTIL NOW, A 
12-THOUSAND-MEMBER U-N FORCE HAS ONLY SERVED AS A BUFFER BETWEEN
 GOVERNMENT TROOPS AND THE AREA CONTROLLED BY REBEL CROATIAN 
SERBS.

PRESIDENT TUDJMAN HAS SAID THE U-N PRESENCE ONLY HELPED CEMENT 
REBEL CONTROL OVER OCCUPIED AREAS.  AND HE HAD INSISTED ON  NOT 
RENEWING THE CURRENT U-N MANDATE WHEN IT EXPIRES MARCH 31ST.

U-S VICE PRESIDENT AL GORE WELCOMED PRESIDENT TUDJMAN'S DECISION
 TO ALLOW A CONTINUED U-N PRESENCE.

                          //GORE ACT//

         I WOULD LIKE TO SAY THIS IS VERY GOOD NEWS.  I CONSIDER
         THIS A MAJOR STEP AWAY FROM WAR AND TOWARDS PEACE.

                           //END ACT//

MR. GORE PROMISED AN AMERICAN-LED EFFORT IN THE SECURITY COUNCIL
 TO REDEFINE THE U-N MISSION IN CROATIA.

                          //GORE ACT//

         WE ARE GOING TO BEND EVERY EFFORT TO SECURE THIS NEW   
      ARRANGEMENT AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE AND HOPEFULLY BY THE   
      END OF MARCH.  WHAT THE ANNOUNCEMENT TODAY MEANS IS THAT  
      IN THE EVENT THAT TASK SHOULD  NOT  BE COMPLETED BY THAT  
      DATE, ON AN INTERIM BASIS THE PRESENCE WILL CONTINUE AS   
      WE ACTIVELY SEEK TO COMPLETE THE NEGOTIATIONS FOR THE     
    NEW ARRANGEMENT.

                          // END ACT//

THE DEAL FOLLOWS MAJOR DIPLOMATIC EFFORTS TO KEEP A U-N PRESENCE
 IN CROATIA.  THE POSSIBLE WITHDRAWAL OF THE PEACEKEEPERS THE
END  OF THIS MONTH HEIGHTENED FEARS OF RENEWED FIGHTING BETWEEN 
CROATIAN GOVERNMENT FORCES AND REBEL SERBS. AND THERE WAS
CONCERN THAT IT COULD RE-IGNITE THE CONFLICT IN NEIGHBORING
BOSNIA, WHERE A SHAKY CEASE-FIRE IS DUE TO EXPIRE MAY FIRST.

THE AGREEMENT WAS ANNOUNCED AT A JOINT NEWS CONFERENCE IN 
COPENHAGEN, WHERE MR. GORE AND MR. TUDJMAN WERE ATTENDING THE
U-N WORLD SUMMIT FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT.  (SIGNED)

NEB/LTJ-T/BG

12-Mar-95 1:51 PM EST (1851 UTC) NNNN

Source: Voice of America



===================================================

  DATE=3/15/95 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT NUMBER=2-175579
TITLE=U-S / BOSNIA FEDERATION (L-O) BYLINE=DAVID GOLLUST
DATELINE=STATE DEPARTMENT CONTENT= VOICED AT: 



INTRO:  U-S SECRETARY OF STATE WARREN CHRISTOPHER 
(TODAY/THURSDAY) LEADS WASHINGTON CEREMONIES MARKING THE FIRST 
ANNIVERSARY OF THE AGREEMENT CREATING A FEDERATION OF BOSNIAN 
CROATS AND MUSLIMS.  AS V-O-A'S DAVID GOLLUST REPORTS, THE 
CLINTON ADMINISTRATION IS SEEKING TO REINFORCE THE TROUBLED 
FEDERATION AMID GROWING CONCERN ABOUT A POSSIBLE BREAKDOWN OF
THE BOSNIAN CEASE-FIRE. 



TEXT:  CLINTON ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS FREELY CONCEDE THAT THE 
CONFEDERATION -- CREATED UNDER AN AGREEMENT SIGNED AT 
WASHINGTON'S BLAIR HOUSE A YEAR AGO -- HAS  NOT  TAKEN SHAPE AS 
FULLY OR RAPIDLY AS HAD BEEN HOPED. 

AND THEY ARE MAKING A MAJOR EVENT OUT OF THE ANNIVERSARY
CEREMONY WITH THE HOPE OF INJECTING NEW LIFE INTO -- AND
GENERATING  ADDITIONAL FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR -- THE UNION OF
BOSNIAN CROATS  AND MUSLIMS. 

SECRETARY OF STATE WARREN CHRISTOPHER WILL LEAD THE STATE 
DEPARTMENT OBSERVANCE AND WILL BE JOINED BY A LONG LIST OF 
FOREIGN OFFICIALS AND DIPLOMATS, INCLUDING CROATIAN PRESIDENT 
FRANJO TUDJMAN AND THE PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERATION, KRESIMIR 
ZUBAK.   

THE CEREMONIES WILL INCLUDE THE FOUNDING OF A NEW ORGANIZATION 
LED BY THE UNITED STATES AND THE EUROPEAN UNION THAT IS TO 
GENERATE FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR THE FEDERATION AND ITS 
INSTITUTIONS. 

A SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL WHO BRIEFED REPORTERS HERE 
SAID THE MEETING REFLECTS A NEW DIPLOMATIC PUSH BY THE UNITED 
STATES IN BOSNIA, WHERE, AS HE PUT IT: "THE CLOUDS OF WAR ARE 
CLEARLY DARKENING." 

THIS FOLLOWS THE SUCCESSFUL U-S-LED EFFORT TO DEFUSE THE CRISIS 
IN CROATIA SPAWNED BY MR. TUDJMAN'S DEMAND -- WITHDRAWN LAST
WEEK-- THAT U-N PEACEKEEPING FORCES BEGIN LEAVING THE COUNTRY. 

THE SENIOR U-S OFFICIAL SAID THE SUCCESS OF THE FEDERATION IN 
BOSNIA IS FUNDAMENTAL FOR HOPES TO EXTEND THE FALTERING BOSNIAN 
CEASE-FIRE -- DUE TO EXPIRE MAY FIRST -- AND TO EVENTUALLY PROD 
THE SERBS INTO ACCEPTING AN OVERALL SETTLEMENT ALONG THE LINES 
PROPOSED BY THE FIVE-NATION CONTACT GROUP. 

IF THE FEDERATION DOES  NOT  HOLD TOGETHER -- THE OFFICIAL SAID
-- IT IS, AS HE PUT IT "ALL OVER" FOR THE MUSLIMS AND THE CROATS
 IN BOSNIA. THE ONLY WAY TO DEAL WITH THE SERBS WHO CONTROL MOST
 OF THE COUNTRY, HE WENT ON, IS TO SHOW SOLIDARITY AND
OPPOSITION  TO THEIR BEHAVIOR. 

HE ALSO SAID THERE WOULD BE "NO HOPE" FOR AN INDEPENDENT AND 
VIABLE BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA IF THE SHAKY UNION OF MUSLIMS AND 
CROATS COLLAPSED INTO RENEWED INTER-COMMUNAL FIGHTING LIKE THAT 
WHICH OCCURRED IN 1993. (SIGNED) 

 NEB / DAG / BD/BG

15-Mar-95 5:05 PM EST (2205 UTC) NNNN

Source: Voice of America



===================================================

TODAY'S ISSUES==> TOPIC: MILITARY & ARMS      Ref: C3LL1215
Date: 03/17/95 From: STEVE SCHULTZ (Leader)                     
          Time: 05:20pm \/To: ALL                               
                 (Read 12 times) Subj: MACEDONIA WANTS CHANGE IN
U.N. STATUS

Macedonia is demanding that U.N. peacekeeping forces in the
country be made independent of U.N. forces in the former
Yugoslavia. Foreign Minister Stevi Crvenkovski said that
Macedonia is seeking a new U.N. mandate with a "separate
military, logistical and administrative structure under a
special representative" for the 1,100 peacekeepers in the
country. Macedonia wants an independent operation not linked to
other countries. (A.F.P., Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.)

===================================================

TODAY'S ISSUES==> TOPIC: MILITARY & ARMS      Ref: C3LL2576
Date: 03/17/95 From: STEVE SCHULTZ (Leader)                     
          Time: 05:42pm \/To: ALL                               
                 (Read 10 times) Subj: BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA UPDATE

GEN Vlado Santic, a Bosnian Croat officer, has been missing
since March 8. Bosnian Croats have accused elements of the
Bosnian Government of kidnapping Santic. A Government official
said that he was most likely killed after a brawl erupted at a
private party in the Bihac region. (Reuters/N.Y.T.)



OMRI DAILY DIGEST 

No. 55, 17 March 1995



CROATIAN AND MUSLIM LEADERS GATHER IN WASHINGTON. Meetings took
place on 16 March to mark the first anniversary of the
U.S.-sponsored CroatianMuslim federation in Bosnia and
Herzegovina. Vecernji list on 17 March said that Presidents
Franjo Tudjman and Bill Clinton held a private discussion for
about an hour before Tudjman went on to New York to talk with UN
Secretary-General Boutros Boutros Ghali. Both meetings
presumably focused on the future of international peacekeeping
operations in Croatia. Bosnian Croat leader and federal
President Kresimir Zubak was the only original signatory present
in Washington, although Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic took
part via a video hookup while visiting Bonn. From there, he told
reporters that there will be no extension of the current
cease-fire unless the Serbs accept the Contact Group's peace
plan, since the present arrangement only freezes Serbian
conquests. In Washington, Bosnian and federal Vice President
Ejup Ganic called on Clinton to pressure Serbian President
Slobodan Milosevic to recognize his government's sovereignty
over Bosnia and Herzegovina. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.



SANTIC AFFAIR CASTS SHADOW OVER FESTIVITIES. While the VOA's
broadcasts in Serbo-Croatian on 17 March stress the positive
aspects of the federation, the BBC's emphasize its problems. One
commentator called it "an anti-Serbian political idea" that has
achieved nothing except to stop the 1993 Croatian-Muslim war.
The BBC discussed at length the tensions stemming from the
kidnapping in the Bihac pocket on 8 March of the Bosnian Croat
commander there, General Vlado Santic. The Muslims have admitted
that their military police were last seen with him after a
drinking session but deny knowing where he is now. One theory
holds that he has been killed in a settling of old scores, while
another suggests it is the work of rogue Muslims who have never
wanted peace with the Croats. The BBC and Nasa Borba both quote
Bosnian Croat representatives as saying they are "freezing"
official contacts with the Muslims until the affair is cleared
up. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.



DIFFERING AGENDAS IN THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA? Nasa Borba on 17
March, reporting on apparent differences of strategies among the
five countries of the Contact Group, says Russia is interested
primarily in shoring up its status as a great power. Britain and
France, the paper continues, wants to prevent conflict; but
fears of an alleged American or German preponderance in the
post-1989 world have long been evident in their policies in the
former Yugoslavia. Those policies often seem aimed at shoring up
the Serbs and blocking the Croats and Muslims, who are perceived
in London and Paris as clients of Bonn or Washington. The
article adds that in reality, the U.S.'s "special relationship"
in Europe is now with Germany, not Britain. The Frankfurter
Allge-meine Zeitung picks up the theme, noting that Washington
and Bonn are in the forefront of efforts to bolster the
Croatian-Muslim alliance. That federation "is the cornerstone on
which the Contact Group's peace plan rests, not the other way
around," the German daily comments. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.



-----------------------------------------------------------------
-------

B o s N e t  - Mar. 17, 1995 

==========================================



Source AP, VOA

``The federation is the way to build Bosnia-Herzegovina from the
inside,''  said Ejup Ganic, the Bosnian vice president, who is
also the vice president of the Bosno-Croat federation. ``... We
have succeeded in building the  federation house from the roof
-- we have built less on the ground.''

Ganic complained that the Croat side had just imposed punitive
taxes on all  goods going crossing through territory into
Bosnian gov't controlled areas. And the two parties failed to
integrate their armies, police forces and administrative
structures.

Croatian President Franjo Tudjman said the federation was ``the
only way in  which the Croat and Muslim national entities in
Bosnia can preserve their  national existence and live in peace
and cooperation.''

US Secretary of State Warren Christopher said the federation
challenges ``a  dangerous myth, that people of different
communities cannot live together.'' The federation ``one of the
best arguments for peace, and one of the best  arguments for
hope.'' He said the United States would be contributing $30 
million to the federation this year. Christopher later met with
Tudjman,  Ganic and Zubak, the federation's president. 

Assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke commented about
the tensions between the two parties: ``That kind of division is
tragic, because the only  beneficiaries are the Serbs ... We
have said many times: if the Bosnian Croats  and Muslims fight
each other again then it's all over... We are going back to 
Bosnia, where the clouds of war are darkening,'' he said.



  Source AP

According to the U.N. spokesman Maj. Herve Gourmelon, a British
patrol came  under ``deliberate and sustained''machine-gun and
cannon fire from nationalist  Bosnian Serb positions near
Gorazde, in eastern Bosnia Wednesday. No one was  hurt. A U.N.
Quick Reaction Forces team was also dispatched to the scene, 
where it came under fire as well. They were able to escape only
under the cover of darkness, U.N. spokesperson Gary Coward said.
 And U.N. engineering  team also was fired on in the southwest
Wednesday, Coward said. No injuries  were reported.

U.N. aid officials have warned of looming starvation and
widespread  malnutrition in the northwestern Bihac area. The
Croatia's Krajina Serbs along with Bosnian Serbs and their
allies refuse to let aid convoys in. The last convoy reached
Bihac on Feb. 28.



 Fighting and sniping increased in and around Sarajevo.
Nationalist Bosnian  Serbs closed a civilian route in and out of
the city, Mt. Igman mountain road  within range of Serb guns is
now the only land route out of Sarajevo.

Nationalist Bosnian Serb authorities also have been blocking aid
convoys from reaching Sarajevo. The humanitarian airlift to the
city was suspended  Sunday after bullets hit a plane carrying
Yasushi Akashi.

``It is really to be expected that the war will continue and we
are ready for  that,'' Gen. Rasim Delic, commander of Bosnian
Army troops, told the Sarajevo  daily Oslobodjenje Thursday.



``We are putting on hold all talks and negotiations with the
Muslim side  until we get information on what happened to Maj.
Gen. Vlado Santic,'' said  Ivan Bender, speaker of the
self-proclaimed Bosnian Croat parliament. He explicitly blamed
Gen. Dudakovic, who is ``is directly responsible for the  fate
of our general.''

The Bosnian Croats HVO militia's Gen. Tihomir Blaskic, claimed
that the  Bosnian commander ``assaulted Gen. Santic the night
the latter disappeared.''  He speculated that Santic was
arrested on orders from Dudakovic.

Gen. Dudakovic, who commands Bosnian Army forces fighting
nationalist Serbs  in the Bihac area, said Wednesday he had
arrested some of his military police in connection with Santic's
disappearance. He called the abduction ``a  criminal act'' that
should not affect Bosno-Croat relationship.

``This act was undertaken by enemies of the ... federation,''
said lawmaker  Mirsad Ceman. The president of the federation,
Bosnian Croat leader Kresimir  Zubak, also hinted last week that
Serbs could have been behind Santic's  abduction.



``They know our phone number, they know how to get in touch with
us,'' said  Ast. Secretary of State R. Holbrooke, whose attempts
to lure nationalist  Bosinan Serbs to accept the Contact Group's
peace arrangement were  unsuccesfull.

Holbrooke said the Clinton administration would select a retired
senior  American military officer to advise them.

``We want peace soon but we are also ready to fight,'' Alija
Izetbegovic, Bosnian president said after meeting with officials
in Bonn, Germany.



-----------------------------------------------------------------
-------

                     B o s N e t  - Mar. 17, 1995 

==========================================



SERBS STEP UP SHELLING, MURDER IN SARAJEVO. Serb nationalists
increased  sniping attacks in Sarajevo, and bombarded the
capital over the weekend despite  a NATO "ultimatum" that is
supposed to ban heavy-weapons attacks on the city.  NATO took no
action except to increase surveillance flights over Bosnia.  
Six people were killed and more than a dozen wounded, including
a 49-yearold woman cut down by sniper fire and a 66-year-old man
killed in a mortar  explosion. Tram service again was shut,
after Serbs repeatedly fired at packed  streetcars.   The UN
reported that two girls, 9 and 11, were shot to death in the
Serboccupied Grbavica district. A Bosnian minister expressed
deep condolences at  the girls' death and promised an
investigation; shortly after, a Bosnian  soldier was detained
for questioning.   Although Serb shelling and sniping has
murdered over 10,000 residents of  Sarajevo, including more than
1,500 Bosnian children; and although Serbs have  been constantly
shooting at unarmed civilians in Sarajevo for three years of 
war, Serb nationalist leader Karadzic expressed outrage at the
sniping deaths  on Serb-occupied territory, and closed the "Blue
Road" out of Sarajevo in  retaliation. However, Karadzic has not
expressed regret for the murder of  thousands of unarmed
Sarajevans; in fact, he has boasted that Sarajevans -- the 
city's residents, not the Bosnian army -- would be so decimated
that they would  "no longer count the dead, but count the
living."     Sarajevo's airport, meanwhile, has again been
closed to aid flights due to  repeated Serb shooting at planes
there. Gunfire hit a Red Cross plane Saturday  and the plane
carrying a top UN official Sunday; there was more shooting 
Monday.   With the airport shut and Blue Roads closed, basic
food supplies such as  cooking oil and sugar have disappeared
from city markets, and other prices are  soaring. AP reports
that 1 lb. of coffee now costs more than half the average 
monthly salary in Sarajevo.       



CONVOY ATTACK. Bosnian Serbs fired 19 mortar bombs at a UN
humanitarian-      aid convoy in north Bosnia, forcing the UN to
close a main aid route, Reuters  reports. The trucks were on a
road near Ribnica, linking central Bosnia with  the
refugee-packed city of Tuzla.   In another assault, Bosnian
Serbs stopped a French armored vehicle and  kidnaped a Bosnian
woman working for the UN as a translator. The UN soldiers  did
nothing to protect her.    The UN also reports that Serbs are
refusing to allow fuel deliveries for UN  soldiers in Sarajevo
and three besieged eastern enclaves. This is hampering  their
abilities to mount anti-sniper patrols and monitor "cease-fire" 
violations.    





===============================================

DATE=3/19/95 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT NUMBER=2-175717
TITLE=SARAJVO FIGHTING (S ONLY) BYLINE=DANIEL YOVICH
DATELINE=SARAJEVO CONTENT= VOICED AT:



INTRO:  U-N TROOPS OPENED FIRE ON BOSNIAN SERB SOLDIERS NEAR THE
 SARAJEVO AIRPORT AFTER AN ATTACK ON A U-N CARGO PLANE.  U-N 
OFFICIALS SAY IT WAS AN APPROPRIATE MILITARY RESPONSE TO
CONTINUE ATTACKS ON AIRCRAFT AT THE U-N CONTROLLED AIRFIELD.  
DANIEL  YOVICH REPORTS FROM SARAJEVO.



TEXT:  UNITED NATIONS PEACEKEEPERS HAVE RETALIATED WITH
AUTOMATIC CANNONFIRE, TARGETING A BOSNIAN SERB MOTOR POSITION
BELIEVED TO  HAVE FIRED ON A U-N CARGO PLANE.  

U-N PROTECTION FORCE SPOKESMAN, LIEUTENANT COLONEL GARY COWARD, 
SAYS FRENCH SOLDIERS FIRED 10  20-MILLIMETER ROUNDS FROM AN 
ARMORED PERSONNEL CARRIER AFTER THE CREW SAW BOSNIAN SERBS 
SOLDIERS FIRE ONE MORTAR ROUND THAT LANDED ABOUT 50 METERS FROM 
THE U-N PLANE. 

NO  U-N PERSONNEL WERE INJURED IN THE INCIDENT.  COLONEL COWARD 
SAYS  NO  DAMAGE ASSESSMENT OF THE BOSNIA SERB POSITION IS 
AVAILABLE.

THE MORTAR ATTACK IS THE LATEST IN A SERIES OF CEASE-FIRE 
VIOLATIONS THAT HAS U-N OFFICIALS WORRIED.  NATO WAR PLANES HAVE
 BEEN PATROLLING THE SKIES OVER SARAJEVO IN RESPONSE TO A
RAPIDLY  DETERIORATING SITUATION. 

COLONEL COWARD SAYS THE U-N MILITARY RETALIATION IS MEANT TO
SEND A MESSAGE TO THE BOSNIAN SERB ARMY COMMANDERS.  FURTHER
FORCE IS  NOT  BEING RULED OUT, HE SAYS, IF AGGRESSIVE ACTS
CONTINUE.  (SIGNED)

NEB/DY/CB-T/BG    

19-Mar-95 1:45 PM EST (1845 UTC) NNNN

Source: Voice of America



========================================================

Sun, 19 Mar 1995 19:24:51 -0800 



 TIME RUNNING OUT TO DEVELOP PERMANENT PEACE PLAN  New York
Times 



WASHINGTON -- Having reduced the risk of war in Croatia by
persuading it not to expel U.N. peacekeepers, President
Clinton's foreign-policy team is now seeking to prevent
stepped-up fighting in Bosnia, but many officials predict a
major outbreak of hostilities with the arrival of spring weather.

With a four-month cease-fire due to expire at the end of April,
Clinton's foreign-policy advisers acknowledge that there is
almost no chance of getting Bosnia's Muslim-dominated government
and the country's rebel Serbs to agree to a peace plan by then.

''The clouds of war are darkening,'' said Assistant Secretary of
State Richard Holbrooke, the administration's point man on
Bosnia. ''The four-month period, the cease-fire, is running out.
The incidents are increasing.''

After receiving arms from abroad this winter despite an
international embargo, the government appears eager to attack
Serbian lines to regain some of the 70 percent of Bosnia's
territory held by the Serbs.

For their part, the Bosnian Serbs, helped by Croatian Serbs,
have mounted an offensive against the Muslim pocket of Bihac in
northwestern Bosnia, where the cease-fire never took hold. 

All but abandoning hope that the warring factions would resolve
their differences soon, Secretary of State Warren Christopher
proposed a new stopgap policy last week that angered the Bosnian
government: extending the fraying cease-fire beyond its April 30
expiration.



CRITICISM FROM BOSNIANS  



Bosnian leaders immediately criticized the Christopher proposal,
arguing that it would make it easier for the Serbs to solidify
their control of the territory they had seized.

In an interview, Vice President Ejup Ganic of Bosnia said his
country had originally insisted on a cease-fire of no more than
four months for just this reason.

He also contended that his government had never received the
quid pro quo that was promised it for accepting the cease-fire.
The United States, Britain, France, Germany, and Russia -- the
so-called ''contact group'' countries -- were supposed to exert
pressure on Bosnia's Serbs to accept a peace plan that would
reduce their holdings to 49 percent of Bosnia's land.

Last week, Ganic and other Bosnian leaders called for ending the
cease-fire, lifting the international arms embargo against
Bosnia and having the North Atlantic Treaty Organization make
good on its threats to bomb Bosnian Serbian positions when the
Serbs flouted the organization's warnings.



NO SETTLEMENT SOON  



U.S. officials acknowledge they see no settlement soon. The
Clinton administration has failed to persuade the Bosnian Serbs
to accept a peace plan put forward by the United States, Russia
and Europe.

Similarly, it has failed to persuade President Slobodan
Milosevic of Serbia, the dominant figure in the former
Yugoslavia, to grant formal recognition to Bosnia and its
borders, a move that would undermine the claims and spirit of
the Bosnian Serbs.



===============================================

OMRI DAILY DIGEST 

No. 56, 20 March 1995



MUSLIMS SEND CONDOLENCES FOR DEATH OF CROATIAN GENERAL. AFP
reported on 19 March that Bosnian Vice President Ejup Ganic sent
formal condolences to Federal President and Bosnian Croat leader
Kresimir Zubak for the apparent murder of Bosnian Croat General
Vlado Santic in the Bihac area on 8 March. The telegram said
that "the two of us have been confronted with almost insoluble
problems before, but we have managed to solve them
successfully." The murky Santic affair has strained
Croatian-Muslim relations in recent days, but Slobodna Dalmacija
on 18 March quoted Zubak as saying that "for all that we are
doing, we need patience, tolerance, and consideration." Bosnian
authorities on 15 March arrested three Muslim military policemen
in connection with the disappearance of Santic. Nasa Borba on 20
March quotes Bihac Muslim rebels as saying that government
soldiers killed Santic and threw his body in the River Una, but
Vjesnik reports that "there is no information about his fate."
-Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.



BOSNIAN SERBS STEP UP PRESSURE ON UN. International media
reported on 19 March that Bosnian Serb forces fired a mortar
shell in the direction of a French air transport at Sarajevo
airport and that French UNPROFOR positions returned fire. Serb
snipers fired on city streets, and gunners hit the Bosnian
government's sole supply road along Mt. Igman. In the meantime,
a Russian UN observer was arrested by Serbs at a checkpoint
outside Sarajevo. A UN spokesman said it was "likely" that the
Serbs were "stepping up an organized campaign of harassment." He
added that the UN "may use force to neutralize" any position
firing on UN aircraft in the future. The Serb reaction to these
statements is not known. -Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.



TUDJMAN HOLDS HIS GROUND REGARDING UNPROFOR. Croatian President
Franjo Tudjman told CNN on 18 March that Zagreb has not changed
its position in agreeing to a new international presence in
Croatia. He maintained that Croatia was firm in saying that
UNPROFOR had to go and that the primary task of a new
international body under a different mandate would be
supervising Croatia's borders. He added that he remained
optimistic that both Belgrade and Knin would come round to a
negotiated settlement to Zagreb's liking. But The New York Times
on 20 March reported that "messy" discussions are under way in
UN circles about the composition and mandate of the new force.
Croatia wants it to "control" its borders with Serbia and
Bosnia, but the most likely mandate on offer will be for the
small force to "monitor" its frontiers. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI,
Inc.



BELGRADE DIPLOMACY. Nasa Borba on 20 March reported that EU
officials have rejected Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic's
condition that sanctions against the rump Yugoslavia be lifted
before Belgrade agrees to participate in a summit on the
situation throughout the former Yugoslavia. Milosevic, following
meetings with Greek Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias, called
on the EU on 17 March to help lift sanctions. He noted that
since the EU was the architect of the embargo, "it would be fair
if an initiative to lift the sanctions were to come from [that
organization]," AFP reported. Finally, Nasa Borba on 18-19 March
reported that rump Yugoslavia Foreign Minister Vladislav
Jovanovic met with Pope John Paul II on 17 March. -- Stan
Markotich, OMRI, Inc.





=======================================================

TODAY'S ISSUES==> TOPIC: MILITARY & ARMS      Ref: C3QL1022 Date: 03/21/95
From: STEVE SCHULTZ (Leader)                                Time: 05:17pm
\/To: ALL                                                 (Read 1 times)
Subj: BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA UPDATE

The Bosnian Government began an offensive yesterday, breaking a
cease-fire six weeks before it was scheduled to expire. Fighting was most
intense near Tuzla, with 500 detonations reported in the Mount Majevica
area as 1,000 Bosnian Army troops tried to take a Serbian communication
tower. Serbs responded by shelling Tuzla, with at least 12 shells hitting
the town and one hitting the main barracks of the Bosnian Army's II Corps.
Serbs also shelled the Government held airbase to the west.

Government troops were also reported advancing from Travnik toward Mount
Vlasic, north of Tuzla. Serbs responded with an artillery attack on
Travnik.

Three people were killed and nine wounded over the weekend in Sarajevo by
sniper fire. (Roger Cohen/N.Y.T.)

===========================================

DATE=3/19/95 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT NUMBER=2-175714
TITLE=SARAJEVO/RUSSIAN (S ONLY) BYLINE=DANIEL YOVICH
DATELINE=SARAJEVO CONTENT= VOICED AT: 



INTRO:  BOSNIAN SERB SOLDIERS HAVE ARRESTED A U-N MILITARY 
OBSERVER SOUTH OF SARAJEVO.  U-N OFFICIALS SAY THE ARREST IS
PART OF AN INCREASING PATTERN OF HARASSMENT AGAINST U-N
PERSONNEL.   DANIEL YOVICH REPORTS FROM SARAJEVO.



TEXT:  UNITED NATIONS OFFICIALS SAY THEY ARE OUTRAGED OVER THE 
ARREST OF A U-N MILITARY OBSERVER.  

MAJOR ALEXEI NIKOLENKOF, AGE 32, IS BEING HELD BY BOSIAN SERB 
FORCES AT A MILITARY PRISON SOUTH OF SARAJEVO.  MAJOR NIKOLENKOF
 IS ONE OF NINE RUSSIAN MEMBERS OF THE OVER SIX- HUNDRED-STRONG 
U-N MILITARY OBSERVER UNIT ASSIGNED TO THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA.  

LIKE THE OTHER MILITARY OBSERVERS, MAJOR NIKOLENKOF ENJOYS 
DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY AS A PART OF HIS DUTIES.  IT IS THIS FACT, 
SAYS U-N PROTECTION FORCE SPOKESMAN ALEXANDER IVANKO, THAT HAS 
ANGERED U-N OFFICIALS. UNLIKE THE SOLDIERS OF THE U-N PROTECTION
 FORCE, MILITARY OBSERVERS ARE UNARMED.  

A STRONGLY WORDED LETTER OF PROTEST HAS BEEN SENT TO BOSNIAN
SERB ARMY HEADQUARTERS.  MR. IVANKO SAYS THE BOSNIAN-SERBS HAVE
FAILED TO REPLY AND A U-N NEGOTIATING TEAM HAS BEEN SENT TO THE
SERB  JAIL TO TRY AND WIN MAJOR NIKOLENKOF'S RELEASE.  

ALSO IN THE BOSNIAN CAPITAL, AT LEAST TWO MEN ARE DEAD AND THREE
 CIVILIANS WOUNDED IN SEPARATE SNIPER INCIDENTS THIS WEEKEND.

MR. IVANKO SAYS BOSNIAN GOVERNMENT AND BOSNIAN SERB FORCES ALSO 
EXCHANGED SPORADIC MORTAR FIRE ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF THE CITY.  
(SIGNED)

NEB/DY/LTJ-T/BG

19-Mar-95 10:49 AM EST (1549 UTC) NNNN

Source: Voice of America



-----------------------------------------------------------------
-------

                    B o s N e t  - Mar. 21, 1995 

==========================================

ZAGREB, Croatia--3/21/95

HEAVY FIGHTING: "The situation is serious and I would even say
critical," says U.N. special envoy Yasushi Akashi.              
 By DEAN E. MURPHY, Times Staff Writer



           The faltering truce in Bosnia-Herzegovina teetered
near collapse Monday when heavy fighting broke out in central
and northeastern Bosnia, killing and injuring dozens and dashing
hopes that spring will bring a permanent thaw in the protracted
civil war.           Officials with the U.N. Protection Force
said early morning fighting in and around the towns of Travnik
and Tuzla was the worst since the two sides launched a
four-month cease-fire on Jan. 1 as part of a peace initiative by
former President Jimmy Carter.

	The battles came after more than a week of increasingly deadly
flare-ups in Sarajevo, the Bosnian capital, including sniper
fire that ripped a hole in an airplane carrying the U.N. special
envoy to the former Yugoslav federation. Three people were
killed in sniper attacks over the weekend, and at least a dozen
have been gunned down since the cease-fire began.

"We are seriously concerned about the status of the cessation of
hostilities agreement," U.N. spokesman Christopher Gunnes said. 
"We are at the point where we are asking: 'When can you say
something is really dead?' "

The rugged, mountainous combat on Monday let up only when
snowfall made it impossible to fight, a U.N. military official
in Tuzla said.  The official said both sides are expected to
remain locked in their positions until the bad weather passes in
a day or two.

Although U.N. spokesmen said restrictions on peacekeepers'
movements made it impossible to assign blame for the fighting,
U.N. sources said it was clear that Bosnian government forces
had been the aggressors.

The Bosnian army began the offensive before dawn, attacking
vital communication towers on Bosnian Serb-held peaks above
Tuzla and Travnik, the sources said.

Bosnian Serb news reports said the Bosnian Serb army had come
under attack on Mt. Vlasic, northwest of Travnik, and on Mt.
Majevica, northeast of Tuzla. The reports said the Bosnian Serbs
were prepared for the assaults and had held off the government
forces in hand-to- hand combat.

Military analysts said Bosnian government control of the two
mountaintops would knock out vital communication links for
Bosnian Serbs and lay the groundwork for a broader government
offensive to recapture some of the 70% of territory controlled
by the rebel Serbs.

The peak above Tuzla would also provide Muslim-led forces with a
strategic vantage point to fire upon the Posavina corridor, the
main supply route across northern Bosnia for Bosnian Serbs.

Although the renewed fighting took some U.N. officials by
surprise, it was the timing of the offensive--not that it
occurred--that appeared to catch them off guard. Just last week,
U.N. special envoy Yasushi Akashi, who spent two days in
Sarajevo trying unsuccessfully to bolster the truce, predicted
renewed warfare if diplomatic efforts should fail.

"The situation is serious and I would even say critical," Akashi
said at the Sarajevo airport, where his plane had been hit by
machine-gun fire. "Unless we do something in the next two or
three weeks, a further degradation and resumption of fighting is
feared."

The commander of the Bosnian army was also quoted in Sarajevo's
leading daily newspaper last week as saying, "It is realistic to
expect the war to continue." Gen. Rasim Delic told the
Oslobodjenje newspaper that he had made good use of the
cease-fire to train and better organize his troops, which he
said number about 200,000.

"The probability the war will continue is greater than the
possibility there will be a just [negotiated] solution for
Bosnia," he was quoted by the newspaper as saying.

The situation in Sarajevo has grown so tense in recent weeks
that the United Nations suspended all humanitarian relief
flights into the city on March 11 and this weekend grounded
military flights as well, after Bosnian Serbs fired on five
aircraft landing at the airport in recent days.

At the same time, Bosnian Serb troops surrounding Sarajevo
closed the only civilian supply roads into the city after two
young Bosnian Serb girls were killed by Bosnian army snipers.
Sarajevo radio on Monday warned residents to prepare for
artillery attacks on the city at any time.

"We don't take any comfort in finding our worst fears and
predictions coming true," said Michael Williams, Akashi's
spokesman in Zagreb, the Croatian capital.

U.N. officials said Monday that at least 60 artillery and mortar
shells exploded near Travnik in the morning and between 400 and
500 detonations were recorded in the Tuzla area by midafternoon.

The officials described the attacks as a coordinated assault by
the Bosnian government, although they said most of the
1,000-mile front remained peaceful.

The Bosnian Serbs retaliated by unloading on Tuzla. At least a
dozen mortar shells fell on the government-controlled enclave,
with one of them striking the Bosnian army barracks near the
town center.  Casualty reports varied, with the number of dead
in the barracks alone possibly as high as 30. A U.N. spokesman
said at least 150 people were being treated at the Tuzla
hospital for shrapnel and bullet wounds.

"The thing about the enclaves is that they are easy targets,"
U.N. spokesman Gunnes said. "It is like beating up on a small
kid."

                                        Los Angeles Times 
03/21/95 02:02



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                    B o s N e t  - Mar. 21, 1995 

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FRONTLINES, Bosnia and Herzegovina 19 March



        Rebel Moslems backed by Serb forces from neighbouring
Croatia battled Bosnian government troops east of Velika Kladusa
on Saturday in what local media described as heavy fighting. UN
peacekeepers reported at least 370 mortar and artillery rounds
landing in the area.        "Abdic and the rebel Croatian Serbs
were responsible for offensive actions in the Velika Kladusa
region yesterday and may have made some gains east of the town"
UN spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Gary Coward said.

20 March

        Peacekeepers reported intense fighting around
Government-held Tuzla in northeast Bosnia where government
troops attacked Serbs on a wide front. Sarajevo radio said the
separatist Serbs retaliated with an artillery attack on Tuzla,
killing 19 and wounding dozens.        The UN confirmed one
shell had landed in the city's Bosnian army barracks, but
officials were unsure of the death toll.        A UN duty
officer in Tuzla told Reuters by telephone there had been more
than 500 detonations in the Majevica hills outside Stolice on
Monday morning. Other UN officials said they had monitored more
than 2,000 Bosnian troops moving into the area on Sunday night
and had confirmed reports of at least 25 casualties among
government soldiers this morning.        "It would seem that the
Bosnian army are taking some form of offensive action in that
area but our freedom of movement is very limited and so is our
information," Coward said.  One Bosnian target appeared to be a
Serb television transmitter at Stolice. "We assess the tower to
be fairly important to the Serbs because it handles their
east-west communications," said a UN source.        Heavy
shelling was reported along with infantry battles with half a
dozen towns under attack including Priboj, Jablanica and
Lukavica.

        UN sources said about 90 detonations were heard in a
short space of time near Travnik early in the morning. Serb
forces, bulwarked by strong concrete defences, have repulsed
repeated government attempts to take Vlasic during the war.     
  The separatist Serb army said Bosnian forces in Travnik in
central Bosnia, west of Tuzla, attacked Serb positions around
Mount Vlasic using infantry and artillery.        Gary Coward
said that both fronts quietened in the afternoon. "The weather
is terrible and visibility is reported down to 100 metres
(yards) because of snow."        Snipers claimed another six
victims in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo on Monday, four of them
civilians, a UN spokesman said. Among the casualties were a
54-year-old woman hit in the forearm in the western suburb of
Dobrinja and five males, all of whom were wounded in nearby Stup.

        The UN had cancelled all flights into Sarajevo on
Monday, apparrently bowing to the will of separatist Serbs who
have attacked five aircraft landing at the city's airport over
the past nine days. 



Condolences over Santic death SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina
(March 19)



        Sarajevo television reported on Sunday that Ejup Ganic,
a member of the Bosnian presidency, had written to the president
of Bosnia's Moslem-Croat federation, Kresimir Zubak, expressing
sorrow over the death of General Vlado Santic, a Bosnian Croat. 
      "The two of us have so far encountered almost insoluble
problems for which we have always found a successful solution. I
believe that after this loss we can press ahead with our joint
efforts as we have planned and successfully agreed. Justice will
reach those who are responsible for General Santic's death," the
television quoted Ganic as saying.        Three military police
from the Bosnian government force in the northwest Bosnian
enclave were detained last Wednesday on suspicion of murdering
Santic.        Despite Santic's death, relations between Moslems
and Croats in the Bihac enclave had been cordial. 



Moslem, Serb prisoners exchanged in Sarajevo SARAJEVO, Bosnia
and Herzegovina (March 20)



	Four prisoners, two Serbs and two Moslems, were released among
a 28-strong group of prisoners exchanged under the auspices of
the International Committee for the Red Cross. In three of the
four cases armed United Nations peacekeepers were blamed for
doing nothing to prevent them.

The seizing of Namik Berberovic, a Moslem journalist working for
Bosnian government television, by separatist Serbs at a
checkpoint close to Sarajevo's airport while travelling in a UN
armoured personnel carrier sparked off the others. Bosnian
police then took into custody Svetlana Boskovic, a Serb UN
employee, as she entered the city from the Serb-held part of
Sarajevo where she lived.  Two further tit for tat arrests took
place, one each by the Bosnian police and the separatist Serbs.
Both civilians, were taken while ostensibly under the protection
of UN peacekeepers.    The twenty-four others exchanged on
Monday -- 12 each from the Bosnian government and separatist
Serb factions -- had been long-term prisoners of war. 



Separatist Serbs seize weapons SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina
(March 21)



	Separatist Serb forces have taken one 20mm anti-aircraft canon,
spare 20mm barrel and one 105mm gun, one 76mm gun and one 120mm
mortar from a depot "guarded" by the UN near Sarajevo on Monday
and Tuesday.

"The separtist Serbs withdrew the weapons on Monday and last
night from the Lukavica barracks collection site," said UN
spokesman Major Herve Gourmelon.

The Lukavica weapons depot, located at a Serb barracks southeast
of Sarajevo, is guarded by about 30 French peacekeepers. UN
sources say their troops offered no resistance to the seizure. 
The UN's Bosnia Command in Sarajevo only became aware of the
first incidents on Monday about 12 hours after they happened and
still could not say for certain on Tuesday whether a protest had
been lodged with separatist Serb authorities. 



Bosnian Prime Minister: Bosnians have little choice but war
ZAGREB, Croatia (March 21)



        Bosnian Prime Minister Haris Silajdzic visiting the
Croatian capital, said the Bosnian government had wearied of
honouring a ceasefire that it believes only freezes separatist
Serb conquests because the Big Powers shrank from using military
muscle to enforce their latest peace initiative.

"It looks like the Contact Group have run out of ideas and
initiatives. All they tell us now is don't start fighting."

Asked whether he meant seeking to reverse the tide of the war,
he responded: "Yes. If the international community does not stop
it, we will, even if takes a lot of years. Unfortunately it will
take a lot of innocent lives too."

Silajdzic said he hoped the ceasefire was not dead but that it
could not survive if there is no justice.  "The international
community is helping the Serbs keep territory by insisting on
the status quo and on negotiations forever. It promotes the law
of force rather than the force of law."

Silajdzic said Bosnia would seek to have the peace map adopted
by the UN Security Council as international law.  But he
conceded these proposals were unlikely to to be acceptable to
the Powers or make a difference on the ground in Bosnia. 



UN responds to attack of separatist Serb SARAJEVO, Bosnia and
Herzegovina (March 20)



	French UN troops blasted the Serb mortar position with 10
rounds of cannon fire after a shell exploded 50 metres (yards)
from the C-130 Hercules as it came into land on Sunday. NATO
planes later roared over the city.  UN spokesman Alexander
Ivanko said he did not know if the French return fire succeeded
in eliminating the Serb mortar position but he added: "It is no
longer there."

The mortar attack at the airport was followed by shooting and
shelling between government forces in the nearby Sarajevo suburb
of Hrasnica and Serb troops in Ilidza and Vojkovici. 



UN under fire in Croatia ZAGREB, Croatia (20 Mar)



	A senior UN peacekeeping officer, Major-General Rostislav
Kotil, and his party came under heavy fire from Croat-controlled
territory 300 metres away on Sunday. Kotil's party withdrew
safely when the firing stopped. The area has become volatile
following a recent advance by Croat troops against Bosnian Serbs
along the Bosnian side of the border with Croatia north of the
town of Livno.

"It's obvious that from these new positions the Croats can now
shell Knin," a source said, referring to the rebel Krajina Serb
base town some 30 km north. 





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