Bosnia Serbs push UN to the brink
n Gun battle for Sarajevo outpost n Nato chiefs hold crisis meeting n Major and Clinton discuss action
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.BRITAIN and France were yesterday at the centre of the greatest crisis to face the United Nations since it first sent troops to Bosnia in 1992.
As Serb gunmen fought French soldiers and more UN personnel were taken hostage to deter Nato air attacks, France announced it was sending an aircraft carrier group to the Adriatic and told its peacekeepers to resist by "all available means" Bosnian Serb forces who try to capture them or seize impounded heavy weapons they are guarding.
President Bill Clinton consulted the Prime Minister John Major and the French President Jacques Chirac on how to deal with the escalating tensions. "The president discussed a range of options, including ways of strengthening Unprofor [the UN Protection Force]," a White House spokesman said. He did not elaborate on what the options were, but said the three leaders agreed that the foreign ministers of the five-nation Contact Group would meet in The Hague tomorrow night to dicuss them.
In Paris Admiral Jacques Lanxade, the armed forces chief of staff, told a news conference: "The instruction given today to our forces is 'Resistance - resistance using all available means'." As Bosnian Serbs closed in on arms storage depots still under nominal UN control, a UN spokesman said Lieutenant-General Rupert Smith, commander of peacekeepers in Bosnia, had ordered his troops to fight any Serb attempts to seize the depots after surrendering other ones without resistance earlier in the week.
The future of the entire UN peace-keeping operation was looking increasingly fragile. "It is a dilemma between the terrible and the very terrible," said David Howell, chairman of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee. "I don't think troops should be involved in keeping the peace if there is no peace."
Unmoved by all Western demands and threats, the Bosnian Serbs, branded "international outlaws" by the US, yesterday vowed to hold their 251 UN prisoners indefinitely and to chain some of them each day to likely targets of Nato air strikes.
France warned it would withdraw its UN contingent unless new measures were introduced to protect them. Withdrawal would require a huge military operation, and there is little doubt it would mean an exodus of other UN forces, including Britain's. The UK has kept a comparatively low profile, but there have been confidential co-ordinating talks between British and French ministers.
The defence ministers of Britain, the US and Germany met for a crisis meeting at Gatwick Airport yesterday afternoon. Malcolm Rifkind, the Secretary of State for Defence, and Volker Ruhe, his German opposite number, were joined by William Perry, the US Defense Secretary, who was on his way home.
Asked if there would be more air strikes, Mr Rifkind said: "Nothing is ruled out.'' UN sources have indicated, however, that there will be a cooling-off period as long as hostages remain under threat. Mr Major will chair a meeting of senior Cabinet colleagues and defence chief of staff Field Marshal Sir Peter Inge at Downing Street today to discuss Britain's response to the crisis. He told the Mail on Sunday in an interview that he did not want British troops to leave Bosnia.
France and Britain are now poised uneasily between Russia and the US, which are clearly backing opposing sides in the Balkans. The US urged a tough line against the Serbs and said its planes stood ready to strike again. President Boris Yeltsin of Russia said he would do his best to restrain the Serbs - but only if Nato called off any further air strikes. The Russian Foreign Minister, Andrei Kozyrev, and the Defence Minister, Pavel Grachev, left urgently for Yugoslavia yesterday.
In Pale, the Bosnian Serb capital, a Bosnian Serb army officer said eight UN officers, seized after two Nato air raids on a Serbian ammunition dump, spent the night indoors, but were then taken back to serve as human shields at various installations.
UN at war, page 15
Leading article, page 26
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments