USA: U.S. AGREES TO NEW BOSNIA PEACE OFFER.
Date: Feb 15, 1995
By Carol Giacomo
WASHINGTON, Feb 14 (Reuter) - The United States, worried about war spreading in the Balkans, has agreed with its "contact group" allies to offer Serbia substantial relief from U.N. economic sanctions as part of a new Bosnia peace initiative, a senior U.S. official said on Tuesday.
The offer represents a significant change in what had been a hard U.S. line against Serbia and reflects what American officials see as their diminishing options in the race to head off a widening conflict in the heart of Europe.
The contact group including the United States, Russia, Germany, Britain and France "signed off on the general approach" of the new initiative and will formally present it to Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic shortly, said the official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity.
He said the proposal which had been approved by President Bill Clinton would offer Milosevic "the suspension but not lifting (of U.N. economic sanctions) for limited and renewable periods" of time.
After Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadic refused again to accept the contact group peace plan that splits Bosnia between Moslems-Croats and Serbs, "we turned our attention back to Belgrade with...the support of the (Moslem-led) government in Sarejevo and the government in Zagreb," the official said. sound file (77K)
In return Serbia must agree to stay out of any possible war in Croatia, tighten the embargo on Bosnian Serbs and grant diplomatic recognition to Croatia, Bosnia, Slovenia and Macedonia.
The official said it is not at all certain Milosevic will accept the proposal but the United States and its allies felt they had to make the move to prevent war from spreading in the Balkans.
He stressed that while sanctions relief would be a "big economic plus" for Serbia, any permanent member of the U.N. Security Council could force reimposition of the sanctions if Serbia does not fulfil its commitments.
He also said Serbia would not be readmitted to the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe and other international groups and would not be eligible for International Monetary Fund assistance or be exempted from war crimes tribunal prosecution.
Contact group members, who discussed the offer on Tuesday in Paris, had been working against the clock to try new peacemaking efforts in Bosnia.
