Croatian Deaths Revive Fears of Broken Truce

Three people Saturday were reported killed in fighting in Croatia, renewing fears that the truce there could collapse.

At least 10 people have died this week in the worst outbreak of fighting between Croatian forces and Serbian irregulars backed by the Yugoslav army since the United Nations negotiated a cease-fire in Yugoslavia on Jan. 3.

A Croatian national guardsman was fatally shot during the night near the village of Cepin, south of Osijek in eastern Croatia, Croatian radio reported Saturday.

It said two guardsmen died and two others were wounded when mines exploded near Osijek.

Fighting was also reported near Sisak in central Croatia, near the Adriatic port of Zadar and around the medieval Adriatic resort of Dubrovnik.

The violence has prompted fresh calls for the United Nations to send peacekeeping troops to Yugoslavia as soon as possible.

U.N. Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali on Thursday recommended the deployment of about 13,000 peacekeepers.

Many Yugoslavs believe the arrival of U.N. troops will help bring peace after fighting that has killed 6,000 people since Croatia declared independence last June.

An editorial Saturday in the Belgrade daily Politika said the U.N. troops wouldn’t guarantee peace, “but (they) are . . . almost irreplaceable to start cooling crazed war passions and hotheads, without which it would be virtually impossible to start . . . political negotiations.”

Hard-line Serbs in Croatia still oppose the U.N. peacekeeping plan and Croatian officials have expressed reservations even though President Franjo Tudjman had given his unconditional backing.

Croatian Foreign Minister Zvonimir Separovic said Friday Zagreb accepted the plan as the only alternative to war but that it would not prevent Croatia from regaining territory seized by Serbs.

Milan Babic, leader of Krajina, the main Serbian enclave in Croatia, warned that the arrival of U.N. troops without his approval could spark fresh fighting in the area.