U.N. Aid Convoy Reaches Embattled Bosnian City

Despite heavy new fighting, a U.N. aid convoy reached the besieged city of Gorazde on Saturday for the first time since the Muslim town was encircled by Serbian forces four months ago.

A convoy of eight trucks, escorted by armored personnel carriers, braved gunfire and land mines on the 30-mile trip from Sarajevo, the capital, to bring 46 tons of food and medical aid to an estimated 70,000 people trapped in the town.

The convoy’s successful negotiation of mountainous terrain, where Serbs and Muslims hold positions in a treacherously complex patchwork, was a major breakthrough for the international community’s relief effort.

An earlier U.N. attempt to deliver supplies to Gorazde was abandoned last month when an armored vehicle hit a land mine and the convoy was held in cross-fire for 24 hours before being rescued.

U.N. officials said Saturday that the safe passage pointed to Serbian willingness to cooperate to head off wider military intervention.

But Sarajevo was under heavy shelling at nightfall. Sarajevo radio said more than 150 mortar shells hit the city and its outskirts.

In Washington, a senior Bush Administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters news service that Western military intervention is likely and said he expects the U.S. role would focus on attacking Serbian military targets.

Serbian forces are fighting Bosnian Croats and Muslims and have captured two-thirds of Bosnia-Herzegovina since the republic voted for independence from Serbian-dominated Yugoslavia at the end of February.