Karadzic denounced for 'terror' letter

PROCLAIMING that America would not be deflected from intervening in the Balkan crisis, the Secretary of State, Warren Christopher, yesterday denounced the Bosnian Serb leader, Radovan Karadzic, for suggesting that the United States was exposing the American people and the rest of the world to 'Armageddon'. Reacting also to a hand-grenade attack on Wednesday outside the US embassy in Belgrade, Mr Christopher said that 'around the world we will not be deterred from doing what's necessary for the United States'.

Following this criticism and other protests by UN officials, Mr Karadzic told a news conference that the warning in the letter should be disregarded. 'Please neglect this sentence in the letter because it missed the point,' he said.

The White House meanwhile reiterated that the air-drops by American planes of food and humanitarian supplies over parts of eastern Bosnia would continue, despite concern that has grown over recent days that they may have contributed to an increase in Serbian aggression in the area.

In an 'open letter' to Americans released after the start of the air-drop operation earlier this week, Mr Karadzic warned that the 'ill-advised American humanitarian co-operation could overnight transform a local conflict in Bosnia into a Balkan war, perhaps a world war'.

Touching a nerve made all the more sensitive by last week's bombing of the World Trade Center, Mr Karadzic added that President Bill Clinton would, 'with the best intentions, unintentionally expose the American people and mankind to the hell of Armageddon'. Denying Serbian involvement, Mr Karadzic said the 'deplorable terrorist incident at the World Trade Center is fresh testimony to the extraordinary volatility and immediate dangers of direct involvement'. Mr Christopher said: 'It's not particularly helpful to have comments like the ones he made.' The first telephone call made to authorities claiming responsibility for the New York bombing was from a group identifying itself as Serbian.

Dee Dee Myers, spokeswoman for President Clinton, meanwhile rebutted suggestions that the air-drop operation was causing the intensification of fighting in eastern Bosnia. 'We just reject that notion,' she said. 'Fighting there has been ongoing and the blame needs to lay not at the foot of the humanitarian relief effort but at those who are the aggressors.' Ms Myers repeated the message that was underlined by the President on Wednesday that the operation remained 'ongoing'.

The White House was apparently forced to contradict remarks made on Tuesday by Mr Clinton's Defense Secretary, Les Aspin, that the air-drop operation had been a 'great success' and would probably be suspended. The apparent contradiction between the President's and the Pentagon's position has served to reinforce the impression of some that the administration is allowing itself to get reeled into the conflict without any sure sense of how far it is prepared to go. Mr Christopher yesterday would say only that the US would continue to play 'as constructive a role as possible' in seeking a settlement: 'We are doing all we can with the situation that we found.'