US rethink on arming Muslims

WASHINGTON - In a policy review that may help repair differences between the allies on military intervention in Bosnia, the Clinton administration is reassessing its commitment to lifting restrictions on the supply of arms to Bosnian Muslims, writes David Usborne.

Though the White House yesterday insisted that President Clinton was sticking by his proposal for delivering arms to the Muslims and launching air strikes against Serbian targets, senior sources have said the use of air power alone is now being contemplated by the Pentagon.

While Mr Clinton's resolve to help arm the Muslims may have been dented by the opposition expressed by the European allies, he is also believed to have been disturbed by the recent upsurge in fighting between the Muslims and Croats in Bosnia. That raises the prospect of the Muslims using their new weapons for more than just self-defence against the Serbs.

Agreeing to the use of air power alone would also help the US defuse its differences with Europe. Paris and London are interested in using the threat of retaliation from the air to stop further Serbian aggression.

No new effort to forge a united allied position is likely to be made until after this weekend's referendum in Bosnia on the peace plan. Mr Clinton said yesterday that he remained 'sceptical' about its worth.

The White House spokeswoman Dee Dee Myers confirmed that US soldiers may be deployed to Macedonia, and possibly Kosovo as well, to help prevent the conflict from spreading.