U.N. Chief Calls for More Bosnia Peacekeepers

U.N. Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali on Thursday recommended an enlarged peacekeeping force to escort relief convoys in Bosnia-Herzegovina that could grow to as many as 7,500 troops and support staff.

He gave no precise numbers in a report to the Security Council, but he said the current 1,500-strong force in Sarajevo could increase as much as five times, which would mean 6,000 more personnel. He did not recommend any air cover.

The Security Council is expected to adopt a resolution, perhaps as early as today, authorizing the expanded force.

It will also adopt a second resolution barring warplanes over Bosnia-Herzegovina by any of the combatants, as agreed at last month’s London conference on Yugoslavia.

Diplomats said they doubt that Serbian forces, who might have access to warplanes, are using them but that precautions need to be taken.

In other developments:

* Lord Owen, the European Community’s chief peace negotiator, and Cyrus R. Vance, the U.N. special envoy, held talks in Sarajevo during a three-day Balkan tour. They said that Muslim, Croatian and Serbian leaders have agreed to attend peace talks in Geneva next week.

* The French Defense Ministry said in Paris that the two negotiators have also won agreement for a provisional cease-fire in the Bosnian capital. The Paris announcement gave no details on the cease-fire and did not say when it is to take effect.

* Yugoslav Foreign Minister Vladislav Jovanovic quit, accusing Prime Minister Milan Panic of compromising Serbia’s interests in international peace talks. Jovanovic, a protege of nationalist Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, said in his resignation letter that Panic’s government is increasingly pursuing “a policy contrary to the interests of Serbia and the Serbian people.”