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US envoys killed on road to Sarajevo

Emma Daly
Saturday 19 August 1995 23:02 BST
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ROBERT FRASURE, US special envoy in Bosnia and deputy assistant secretary of state for European affairs, was killed yesterday as his delegation travelled on the mountain road into Sarajevo for talks with President Alija Izetbegovic on a new peace plan for former Yugoslavia.

Killed in the same incident were Joseph Kruzel, deputy assistant secretary of defense, and Air Force Colonel Samuel Nelson Drew, a member of the National Security Council staff. One French peace-keeper died and two others were injured. Richard Holbrooke, US assistant secretary of state for European affairs, was travelling in a second car and was unhurt.

Initial reports from Bosnia had said the envoys' vehicle struck two landmines, but State Department spokesman David Johnson said: "Our understanding now, although the investigation may not be complete, is that there was no mine. [The] accident occurred when the road gave way." UN spokesman Chris Gunness said the vehicle did not come under Serb fire.

Announcing the deaths in Jackson, Wyoming, where he is on holiday and was celebrating his 49th birthday yesterday, President Bill Clinton called the deaths "a tragic accident" but said the incident would not deter US peace efforts in the region: "I would think that the thing that they would want us most to do is to press ahead, and that's what we intend to do."

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