BOSNEWS digest 472 - 20/11/95
BOSNEWS Digest 472
CONTENTS
[01] CONGRESSIONAL UPDATE
[02] THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS ON THE DIPLOMATIC FRONT AND ON THE GROUND IN THE BALKANS
[01] CONGRESSIONAL UPDATE
On Friday night, the House passed by 243 votes to 171 a binding House bill
(HR 2606, the Hefley-Rohrabacher Bill) addressing President Clinton's plans
to deploy 20,000 U.S. troops to implement a Bosnia peace settlement. The
bill, which received the backing of 214 Republicans, 28 Democrats, and one
independent, would prohibit the use of Department of Defense funds for any
U.S. troop deployment in Bosnia unless Congressional approval is granted by
law. It would also prohibit the Department of Defense from using any
existing funding to pay for such a deployment. President Clinton recently
estimated the cost of deploying U.S. troops to Bosnia to be $1.5 billion a
year.
On October 30, House members approved by a bipartisan vote of 315-103 a
non-binding measure (the Buyer-McHale Resolution) stating that the President
should obtain Congressional approval for a Bosnia troop deployment and that
Balkan leaders should not count on U.S. troops to enforce a peace agreement
reached in Dayton.
Although the President has pledged to seek Congressional support for the
deployment, he and top Administration officials have repeatedly warned that
U.S. troops would be deployed regardless of Congressional action.
[02] THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS ON THE DIPLOMATIC FRONT AND ON THE GROUND IN THE BALKANS
On Saturday, Bosnian Foreign Minister Muhamed Sacirbey resigned. Sacirbey, a
Muslim, stated that he was leaving to make way for a Bosnian Croat in one of
the government's top positions. It is believed that the move will promote
closer cooperation between the Bosnians and the Bosnian Croats in talks
regarding the future of their federation.
President Franjo Tudjman, who returned to Zagreb on Thursday, announced
Friday that Croatia would establish normal diplomatic relations with Serbia.
Bosnian Croat leaders criticized Tudjman Friday for supporting Serbian
demands in the Dayton peace talks to widen the strategically vital Posavina
corridor, which links Serbian-occupied lands in eastern and western Bosnia.
Tudjman also reportedly supports giving Serbian forces territory in western
Bosnia recently liberated by Croatian and Bosnian forces.
The U.N. announced Friday that Serbian forces continue to persecute non-Serbs
in the Banja Luka region. The U.N. War Crimes Tribunal Thursday issued new
charges against Bosnian Serb leaders Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic. The
two were charged with orchestrating the suspected massacre of as many as
6,000 Bosnian Muslims after the fall of Srebrenica. The Red Cross estimates
that as many as 8,000 are missing from Srebrenica and believed killed. Chief
Prosecutor Richard Goldstone, speaking Thursday after meeting in Washington
with U.S. officials, stated that it would be "objectionable" if Karadzic and
Mladic were allowed in a settlement reached at Dayton to step down from power
but not be prosecuted by the Tribunal.
The Dayton peace talks continue. Secretary of State Warren Christopher cut
short an Asian trip Friday to join the talks. Secretary of Defense William
Perry and NATO commander General George Joulwan have also joined the talks.
The Bosnian delegation has demanded in writing that a peace accord require
that the signers commit themselves to "arrest, detain, and transfer" to the
custody of the U.N. War Crimes Tribunal individuals indicted by Tribunal.
Any party to the peace agreement that failed to comply with this requirement
would be subject to U.N. sanctions. So far, the U.S. negotiators are
refusing to support this demand.
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