Republics OK Talks to Form a New Yugoslavia

Aiming to salvage a crumbling cease-fire under which at least 13 people have been killed, the leaders of Yugoslavia’s warring republics agreed Wednesday to begin negotiations next week on how to build a new country from the federation’s wreckage.

The collective federal presidency announced in Belgrade that its representatives from all six republics and two Serbian provinces will convene Tuesday to try to shore up the shaky truces that were supposed to halt shooting in the breakaway republics of Slovenia and Croatia.

Slovenia, the most developed area of the Balkan peninsula, has been quiet since European Community diplomats brokered an accord July 8 that effectively recognizes its independence in another six weeks.

But outbreaks of mortar fire have been reported daily in the tense republic of Croatia, where media reported another six deaths from overnight fighting.

That brings the death toll to at least 13 since Croatian national guard troops and Serbian rebels agreed to stop shooting Aug. 7, and well over 300 since Slovenia and Croatia declared independence June 25.

At a meeting Tuesday in the federal and Serbian capital of Belgrade, the presidency declared that the truce had been largely respected. That statement appeared aimed at putting the best face on a situation over which the federal leadership has little control, in order to proceed with diplomatic efforts to work out a new alliance among the republics.

The presidency’s efforts to hold Yugoslavia together have been supported by the republics of Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. But Slovenia has made clear it wants full independence by the early October expiration of its cease-fire, and Serbia and Croatia appear to be using the federal effort at diplomacy to buy time to regroup for another round of fighting.

“Acceptance of the cease-fire by the army and Serbian authorities was just a deception,” Croatian television commented, echoing Zagreb authorities’ claims that an army attack is imminent.

Milan Martic, the Serbian guerrilla leader in the volatile Krajina region, has warned that the cease-fire cannot last and that “the big clash is coming.”

Two Croatian policemen were killed after fighting broke out Tuesday between republic forces and rebel Serbs in the town of Beli Manastir, bordering Hungary in the ethnically mixed Baranja region of eastern Croatia.

Croatian television said another officer was killed in the same area while on patrol near the city of Osijek, and another reservist was killed in the spa town of Topusko, 35 miles south of Zagreb.

The Yugoslav news agency Tanjug reported numerous injuries from other outbreaks of fighting, including those suffered by two federal soldiers.

Army troops were deployed to potential flash points in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina more than two months ago, ostensibly to separate battling Serbs and Croats. But Croatia, which has suffered most of the casualties so far in the conflict, accuses the army of helping the Serbian guerrillas seize and hold vast tracts of Croatian territory where Serbs live.

As much as one-fifth of the republic of Croatia is now under the control of militant Serbs.

While the cease-fire in Croatia has been observed only sporadically, the relative lull in the fighting has allowed several exchanges of prisoners. Tanjug said more than 100 captives had been swapped over the past week.