Serbs Warned Against Attack on U.N. Troops

Serbian forces would be “extremely foolish” to carry out threats to retaliate against British and other U.N. peacekeepers in Bosnia if Western forces intervene there militarily, Foreign Office Minister Douglas Hogg warned Thursday.

Just back from 10 days in the Balkans, Hogg was replying to remarks by Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, who demanded that British soldiers and other NATO forces be replaced with “neutral” troops because Britain and other Western allies have contemplated getting tough on enforcing the U.N.-imposed “no-fly zone” over Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Karadzic has also suggested that any Western air strikes against Serbian aircraft violating the no-fly zone could result in Serbian attacks on U.N. units.

But Hogg replied sternly: “I think it would be an extremely foolish thing for Dr. Karadzic to try to carry out--if these are threats--the threats.”

Hogg told BBC Radio that Karadzic had “no point whatsoever” in claiming that nations carrying out humanitarian aid missions in Bosnia were not neutral. “What is being done at the moment is simply and exclusively to help with the delivery of humanitarian supplies under the authority of the U.N. Security Council.”

He said he is not surprised that “an intense discussion” is under way among the United States and European nations, including Britain, over enforcement of the Bosnian no-fly zone.

Nations like Britain and France, with troops deployed on the ground in the Balkans, have expressed greater reluctance than has Washington--which has no troops in the Yugoslav conflict--to enforce the no-fly zone more strictly.

“There are two principles to be taken into account,” Hogg said. “The first and paramount one is the security of troops deployed in Bosnia. But equally it is essential we deliver humanitarian supplies and also ensure respect for the U.N. (no-fly zone) resolution. . . . These things have to be reconciled.”

At the same time, the British government indicated that it might support allied planes being sent into Bosnia to protect British troops if they are endangered by the Serbs. The Atlantic Alliance, sources at the Defense Ministry here said, is ready to provide air cover for humanitarian convoys and hit at Serbian forces that threaten U.N. peacekeepers.

Meantime, in Belgrade, supporters of Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic said Thursday that he has been victorious in the presidential elections and they asserted this paves the way to incorporate Serb-held areas of Bosnia and Croatia into the rump Yugoslavia, Reuters news agency reported.

“Yugoslavia will recognize the independence of the Serb Republic and the Serb Republic of Krajina (Serb-held parts of Bosnia and Croatia), which will then join Yugoslavia as federal units,” Serbian Radical Party chief Vojislav Seselj said in a newspaper interview.

Latest unofficial results from the Serbian statistics office showed that Milosevic won 55.87% of the votes cast in Sunday’s election, with 90% of ballots counted, Reuters said.

In Serbia, the opposition has said it may contest the legitimacy of the presidential election by withdrawing its members from Parliament.

The Associated Press reported that Serbia’s federal election board on Thursday rejected opposition claims that Milosevic’s apparent reelection was rigged. The announcement by the Milosevic-controlled Serbian Election Commission, reported by the official Tanjug news agency, dimmed chances for a new election as demanded by rival candidate Milan Panic, a Southern California businessman.

In Bosnia, heavy fighting was reported. U.N. sources said reports from the area around Brcko indicated that Croatian forces had cut a key Serbian military supply route, Reuters said.

But a Serbian commander told Belgrade-based Tanjug that the supply line was still intact.