Letter: Beyond Kosovo

Sir: It seems incredible that discussion of repercussions of Nato airstrikes against Serbia centres around the danger to Nato troops in Bosnia.

The re-arming of the Croats and Bosnian Muslims was done on the basis of achieving credible parity with the Serbs as whole, not just Republika Srpska, whose army is generally agreed to be in a weak and depressed state.

Destroying Yugoslavia's military capabilities will be seen as approval for the Bosnian Muslims to attack the Bosnian Serbs and for Croatia to fulfil its long-stated territorial ambitions in northern Serbia, as well as for the Albanians to seize Kosovo and probably eventually western Macedonia.

Why did we expend so much effort insisting on a multi-ethnic Bosnia only to encourage a whole set of new states based on single ethnic groups?

BRIAN POCOCK

London W6