US warplanes set for Sarajevo: Pentagon offers protection to UN relief effort for stricken city

THE UNITED STATES edged closer to direct military intervention in the Yugoslav crisis yesterday, saying it was ready to provide air and naval protection for United Nations efforts to get food and relief supplies through to the besieged Bosnian capital of Sarajevo.

According to the Pentagon spokesman, Pete Williams, the US has moved six ships of its Mediterranean fleet, carrying 2,200 Marines and 'plenty' of attack and transport helicopters, into the Adriatic off the Yugoslav coast.

In addition, the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga, on a port visit to Cannes, could supply air cover if the UN so requested, he indicated.

Although Mr Williams emphasised there were no plans to deploy US troops on the ground around Sarajevo, the new moves represent a significant weakening of Washington's reluctance to become involved in the crisis. Pentagon planners are ready to supply air and naval cover as part of an effort under the auspices of the UN in which forces from other countries secure the situation at Sarajevo

airport.

Dick Cheney, the US Defense Secretary, said yesterday that the best option would be to mount an overland international convoy of relief supplies along the 125-mile road linking Sarajevo and the Adriatic port of Split. That could be protected by air support from the US Navy and Air Force.

The alternative would be for US aircraft, in a non-combat role, to fly in supplies directly to Sarajevo airport. Mr Williams said the plans were 'notional', but amounted to 'what we are prepared to do'. It was not clear last night whether the administration had given a conditional go-ahead for either option. Britain, which has repeatedly denied that it would let British forces become involved, said yesterday that it was ready to take part in relief flights. John Major told Parliament: 'We have offered up to four Hercules flights a day and our aircraft are ready to take off at short notice.' He insisted this was very different from ground action, which Britain did not 'at present' have in mind.

In Sarajevo itself, renewed fighting near the airport yesterday disrupted the distribution of food and medical aid to the city only hours after the relief effort got under way.

Bosnian Serbs exchanged rifle and machine-gun fire with Muslim and Croatian forces in Dobrinja, where some apartment blocks come within 100 yards (100m) of the airport terminal.

The airport control tower took several hits and shells struck the city sporadically throughout the day in the worst barrage since the UN Secretary-General, Boutros Boutros Ghali, warned that 'other means' might be used if the Serbs did not voluntarily make it possible for the airport to be reopened.

Three more transport aircraft arrived yesterday morning, carrying more water, French military combat rations for hungry Sarajevo townspeople, and medical supplies.

A Canadian UN battalion that is to secure the airport militarily was on its way to Sarajevo overnight. It was expected to arrive this morning. The commander of UN forces here, the Canadian General Lewis MacKenzie, is of the opinion that aid flights should wait until the battalion has secured the airport - unlikely before Friday even if the situation is relatively peaceful. The leader of Bosnia's Serbs, Radovan Karadzic, said yesterday he had ordered Serb forces to obey a ceasefire or face 'uncompromising court-martial'.

Two of the French transport aircraft that arrived in the morning were still on the tarmac last night. One was hoping to take off with a wounded French journalist whose car was riddled with gunfire near the airport on Monday. A British photographer also wounded in the attack, Kevin Weaver, 28, is expected to leave hospital soon.

In London, it was announced that Lord Carrington, the EC mediator on Yugoslavia, would visit Sarajevo on

Friday.

In Belgrade, the Yugoslav government announced an 85 per cent devaluation of the dinar in yet another reminder of the effects of UN sanctions. Students marched in a column several miles long through Belgrade yesterday, joining thousands of other demonstrators demanding the resignation of the Serbian President, Slobodan Milosevic.

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