BOSNEWS digest 424 -- 07/10/95

Bosnia-Herzegovina News Directory

From: Nermin Zukic <[email protected]>

President Clinton announced October 5 that Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia had agreed to a country-wide cease-fire for Bosnia. The cease-fire would begin on October 10 only if gas and electricity supplies to Sarajevo are resumed. If these conditions are not met by October 10, the cease-fire will be delayed until they are. The provisions of the agreement call for a complet= e halt to all offensive military activity, including sniper fire. It also calls for free passage for non-military and UNPROFOR traffic between Saraje= vo and Gorazde, and Belgrade and Gorazde. Free passage between Sarajevo and Bihac, or between Sarajevo and government-held territory in central Bosnia = is not guaranteed. The agreement also calls for Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia t= o participate in peace talks in the United States around October 25. The cease-fire will last for 60 days or until peace negotiations conclude, whichever is longer.

Many observers expect the Bosnian Army and Serbian forces to push for furth= er territorial gains in the next few days before the cease-fire is scheduled t= o take effect. U.N. officials reported that frontlines across Bosnia were relatively quiet, but that Serbian forces were poised to recapture the town of Kljuc in western Bosnia. After liberating Kljuc last month, the Bosnian Army uncovered mass graves apparently containing the remains of hundreds of Muslims and Croats massacred by Serbian forces early in the war. U.N. and Bosnian officials are concerned that the fall of Kljuc to Serbian forces would prevent future examination of the graves. The Bosnian government reported gains in fighting near Trnovo and Konjic to the south of Sarajevo.

In other diplomatic news, the Croatian government and Serbian forces occupying eastern Slavonia agreed on October 3 to vague guidelines for further negotiations on the region's future. The guidelines call for a "transition period" for restoring Croatian sovereignty and control over the region. During this period=97which Croatian government officials claim wou= ld be no longer than one year=97the U.N. Security Council would administer the region. International forces would be stationed in eastern Slavonia to maintain peace and enforce a final settlement. Croatia warned that a final settlement must be reached by November 30. Zagreb has pledged to liberate the territory by force if it is not peaceably reincorporated into Croatia b= y then.