Serbs asks Rose to set up truce talks with Moslems
Serbs asks Rose to set up truce talks with Moslems
SARAJEVO (Reuter): Bosnian Serbs have asked the United Nations to set up a meeting with the Moslem army commander to discuss a general truce in Bosnia, Lt. Gen. Sir Michael Rose, UN commander in the country, said yesterday.
"The Serbs would like to have a meeting now with (Moslem-led Bosnian army commander Rasim) Gen. Delic to talk about a global cessation of hostilities, not only Gorazde," Rose said.
He was speaking to reporters after meeting Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and his army commander Gen. Ratko Mladic in Pale.
Rose said Karadzic told him that the Serbs would like to discuss with the Moslems "an overall cease-fire arrangement along the lines of conflict through Bosnia-Herzegovina with Gen. Delic.
"I am now going back to Sarajevo to set this up...later today or tomorrow morning," Rose said.
"You have to have a cease-fire and cessation of hostilities before the political process can start working properly. And (UN special envoy Yasushi) Akashi and (UN commander for former Yugoslavia) Gen. De Lapresle are now talking with Dr Karadzic on the way ahead. I hope a combination of all these events will lead to a return to peace," Rose said.
Rose made the announcement after meeting the Serb leaders in Pale to discuss the situation in the embattled eastern enclave of Gorazde where the Serbs have been reported to have made significant advances.
The Serbs agreed to allow extra UN monitors into the town of Gorazde yesterday but the UN commander in Bosnia inexplicably called off a planned visit to the besieged Moslem enclave.
With Serb forces reported to have made major advances towards the town, a UN spokesman said 12 people including three children had been killed and 52 people wounded over the past 24 hours.
The casualties were reported as Bosnia marked the second anniversary of the war, which most consider broke out when Serb guns shelled nearby Sarajevo on April 6, 1992.
The casualty toll in Gorazde since the latest Serb assault began on March 29 was now 64 killed, including 10 children, and 301 wounded, including 36 children, said Peter Kessler, spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
He said UNHCR staff in Gorazde had confirmed 1,000 people had been displaced from outlying villages by the fighting, which had brought the Serbs to within about three kilometers from the town center.
Trapped
The United Nations said Bosnian Serb forces had on Tuesday advanced up to 10 kilometers into the Gorazde pocket, where 65,000 people are trapped.
But Serb advances from the east and north east had been halted and the Bosnian forces still held crucial high ground which the Serbs would need to take if they wanted to advance further, the UN said.
"Our assessment is that Gorazde is not in danger of falling," spokesman Maj. Rob Annink told a news briefing.
But the Yugoslav news agency Tanjug reported the Bosnian Serb army had "continued offensive activity" in the Gorazde area yesterday morning.
Annink said the Serbs had agreed to allow extra United Nations monitors to augment the four hard-pressed military observers stationed in Gorazde.
But Rose, who held talks in the Serb stronghold of Pale with Serb leaders, canceled his planned trip to Gorazde.
"General Rose is returning to Sarajevo but the rest of the team is going ahead to Gorazde," Annink said.
It remained unclear why Rose canceled his trip.