BALKANS : Yugoslav Combatants Want Peace Kept--on Own Terms

Serbia, Croatia and Yugoslavia’s federal army have all pledged support for an international peacekeeping force to end the civil war that has already killed thousands. But the combatants remain sharply divided over where foreign troops should be deployed--a barrier to intervention that may prove as insurmountable as the ancient hatreds and political intrigues fueling the crisis.

To meet U.N. conditions for dispatch of “blue helmet” peacekeepers, the combatants first would have to resolve the very issues that have brought them to war--in particular the inflammatory question of whether Serbia should control territories in other republics where ethnic Serbs live.

European Community mediator Lord Carrington wound up his latest peace mission to Yugoslavia on Thursday by securing a commitment from the federal army to abide by any political decision to send in foreign troops.

Serbia’s appeal last weekend for a U.N. force to separate warring Serbs and Croats has been seen by some in the 12-nation European Community as a sign that the largest Yugoslav republic has been worn down by four months of bloodletting.

But Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic’s carefully worded call for a U.N. buffer zone actually seeks international assistance in holding on to the territory his forces have seized.

About one-third of Croatia has been conquered by the Serbian-commanded federal army. The key cities of Vukovar, in eastern Croatia, and Dubrovnik, on the Adriatic coast, are also in danger of falling to the army.

Federal Defense Minister Veljko Kadijevic assured Carrington that his army would respect the Serbian leadership’s decision to call in U.N. peacekeepers. He echoed Milosevic in specifying that “the basic task of the force should be to separate the warring sides and ensure security for the Serbian population in the crisis areas,” the Tanjug news agency reported.

Carrington, unable to fly into Croatia because the war-torn republic’s airspace has been closed for two months, met Wednesday with Croatian President Franjo Tudjman in Graz, Austria.

As the Serbian-led forces have steadily advanced into Croatia, Tudjman has softened his earlier opposition to allowing peacekeeping troops to be stationed inside his republic. Croatia fears that such a deployment would establish a long-term buffer zone that would, in effect, become the new border. But Tudjman told Croatian television that U.N. forces “could play a positive role” in dividing the combatants, as long as the federal army withdraws from Croatia.

“Peacekeeping forces would be the guarantee that we will respect minority cultural and ethnic rights, even local self-government,” Tudjman said.

Another major sticking point is likely to be a timetable for the withdrawal of the federal army from Croatia. Tudjman said the army’s withdrawal would have to be “parallel” to U.N. intervention, while Milosevic has said only that the foreign presence would facilitate an army retreat.

There are also vast opportunities for disagreement among the combatants over some of the conditions for U.N. intervention laid down Wednesday by the Security Council.

Cyrus R. Vance, the U.N. secretary general’s special envoy for Yugoslavia, said all parties to the conflict--including guerrilla forces--would have to accept foreign peacekeepers. That may be refused by radicals on all sides.

The U.N. conditions also call for continued pressure on the intransigent republics, possibly including an international oil embargo. One incentive for Milosevic in agreeing to a U.N. force was the hope that his republic would be spared further punitive measures that could spur anti-government riots.

Foremost among the prerequisites is a stable cease-fire to ensure the safety of foreign peacekeeping troops.

Even Carrington, who said he was “encouraged” by his latest talks, conceded that there is no reason to expect a breakthrough.

“Everything depends on the cease-fire, and after 12 cease-fires one cannot be very optimistic that it will hold,” Carrington said.