UN call for more troops likely to get cool response

The United Nations is pressing member states to send another 6,000 soldiers to the former Yugoslavia in the hope of consolidating the truce across Bosnia and paving the way for a political settlement. The request is not new but it is urgent, the U N says, given the need to implement the week-old cessation of hostilities agreement.

"We have pointed out to the troop-contributing nations that we are below the authorised strength [of 50,000 soldiers] by just over 6,000 troops," Alex Ivanko, a UN spokesman in Sarajevo, said yesterday. "We now have more monitoring to do, and observing, because of the cessation of hostilities."

Britain is considering the request but is unlikely to send any more infantry, defence sources in London said yesterday. The feeling in Whitehall is that, with 3,500 troops in Bosnia already, Britain is one of the largest contributors. An Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "We' re looking to see how we can help." But other sources suggested that if Britain sends any more troops they will be a small number of engineers, drivers and other support troops.

Britain already has two mechanized infantry battalions in central Bosnia and Royal Engineers have played a key role in constructing and maintaining supply routes.

Under the agreement signed by the Bosnian government in Sarajevo and the Bosnian Serb leadership in Pale on New Year's Eve, the warring factions are to pull back from front-line trenches so that peace-keepers can be deployed in an expanded no-man's-land.

At present there are 43,000 UN troops in the former Yugoslavia, 23,000 of them in Bosnia, where the line of confrontation stretches for more than 1,200 miles.

Lieutenant General Sir Michael Rose, the UN commander in Bosnia, fears that progress towards a cessation of hostilities and a final settlement will slow down unless the UN can act quickly and effectively. Given the deep mistrust between the factions, General Rose wants to cement conditions on the ground in such a way that it becomes more difficult to return to a state of war.

"They are needed to reinforce troops on the ground, to allow for inter-positioning of troops between the warring parties," Mr Ivanko said. "We need additional observation posts to monitor military activities, and additional patrolling, especially in sensitive areas, around Sarajevo, Gorazde and Bihac."

General Rose has also requested extra equipment, such as helicopters, to enable aerial patrols of front lines. Officials said the UN could do the job with the resources it now has, but, one said, "it could be done better with more". If the deal is implemented and the parties pull back, the UN will need to maintain a constant presence in front-line areas.

"It is not going to fundamentally change the nature of the force," one UN official said. "It is not a solution to the kinds of problems we faced in the past few months but it will help us with these new responsibilities." Some of those "problems" - such as restrictions on the movement of UN staff - should be resolved by the cessation of hostilities deal.

The atmosphere has changed dramatically in the past month, however. In December, the force came extremely close to pulling out of Bosnia. "The feeling always was that we couldn't stay where we were," the official said. "We looked at withdrawal or changing the kind of force we have here, and we are going for the latter."

n A resupply convoy carrying fuel for the Bangladeshi battalion in the Bihac enclave has arrived at their UN base after two days of harassment by rebel Serbs from neighbouring Croatia and fighters loyal to renegade Muslim leader Fikret Abdic, AP reports.