Clinton Rejects Going It Alone to Help Bosnia

Declaring that the United States will not act alone in the former Yugoslav republics, President Clinton said Tuesday that as long as European nations reject truly tough measures, there is nothing that can be done to prevent a Serbian conquest of all Bosnia-Herzegovina.

At a White House press conference, Clinton said there is no way “that the United States should or could successfully take unilateral action” to stop Bosnian Serbs from completing their bloody campaign of “ethnic cleansing.”

He said that Washington will act only with the authorization of the U.N. Security Council.

Other members of the council, including Russia and Britain--which have veto power over council actions--are opposed to international military action, any sharp escalation of U.N.-imposed sanctions or even relaxation of the U.N. arms embargo, which has made it difficult for the outgunned Muslim-led Bosnian government to defend itself.

“The United States has got to work through the United Nations, and all of our views may not always prevail,” Clinton said.

A questioner suggested the President was conceding that, “if there is no change in the position of European governments, (and if the Serbs) can withstand sanctions, the Serbians will essentially be able to get what they want.”

Clinton replied: “You got it! That’s about as good a statement as I could have made myself.”

The President’s comments seemed to wipe away the Bosnian Muslims’ last hope that the United States, as the world’s only remaining superpower, would come to their rescue. The remarks also undercut U.S. rhetorical support for the beleaguered Muslims by acknowledging that Washington will do nothing without U.N. approval.

Clinton shared the press conference with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak after their first face-to-face meeting. Clinton said that he has ordered an investigation to determine if information supplied by Egyptian intelligence could have prevented the New York World Trade Center bombing.

“I have ordered a complete review of what the United States was told . . . (and) when we were told it,” Clinton said. “We have tried to step up our cooperation with the Egyptians in combatting international terrorism since I’ve been President. . . . Whether there was something given to us that we could have acted on that might have changed the shape of future events, I cannot answer that yet.”

In earlier interviews, Mubarak suggested that the United States might have headed off the World Trade Center explosion if it had made more effective use of Egyptian information. But on Tuesday, Mubarak said: “We were making good cooperation with the United States in the direction of avoiding terrorists, but nobody knows or knew beforehand that something was going to happen to the trade center.”

On other subjects:

* Clinton and Mubarak expressed confidence that Middle East peace talks will resume as scheduled April 20, although Clinton said that the United States will not press Israel to ease conditions for the return of almost 400 Palestinians who were exiled in December to a no-man’s-land in southern Lebanon.

In February, Israel said 101 of the deportees could return immediately and the rest by the end of this year. But the deportees insist they all be allowed to return together and that Israel pledge to stop using deportation.

The Palestinian delegation has said that it may boycott the talks unless Israel meets these demands, and Mubarak had indicated earlier that he would urge Clinton to seek Israeli concessions. But when Clinton declined to do so, the Egyptian president dropped the matter and said: “The U.S. is doing the maximum in this process.”

* Mubarak, accusing Iran of seeking to destabilize his government, said that the Tehran regime is a greater menace to world peace than Iraq, which now “can’t threaten any other country.”

* Mubarak received assurances that the Clinton Administration is committed to maintaining Egypt’s $2.3-billion-a-year foreign aid, which is second only to Israel’s $3 billion. On Capitol Hill, there is growing sentiment to cut the Israeli and Egyptian programs to free up money to aid Russia and other republics of the former Soviet Union.

Mubarak, expressing a growing concern in predominantly Muslim Egypt, called for additional world action to rescue the Muslims in Bosnia.

“The world cannot tolerate the savage practices which are committed under the ugly slogan of ethnic cleansing and purification,” he said. “It is against all human values to see such claims emerge on the threshold of the 21st Century.”

Clinton agreed in principle. But he held out little hope for action because of European foot-dragging.

At the same time, he brushed aside mocking praise from Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, who said in an interview with the Washington Post that he is happy that Clinton does not want to be “the world policeman.” Milosevic commended Clinton for concentrating on U.S. domestic problems instead of trying to end aggression in the Balkans.

“He’s trying to head off tougher sanctions in the U.N.,” Clinton said.

“I have done my best to continue to stiffen the sanctions, to continue to push for more action, to push for enforcement of the “no-fly” zone, to push all the countries involved to do what we could to try to bring this to a successful conclusion so that the principle of ethnic cleansing is not rewarded in Bosnia and, therefore, encouraged in other countries,” Clinton added.

At the United Nations, the Security Council postponed a vote, originally expected Tuesday, on a new package of economic sanctions against Serbia. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Washington is frustrated by the delay, but he expressed hope that the measure eventually will pass.

However, officials said that the new sanctions will increase the pressure on Serbia but are unlikely, by themselves, to force the Serbs to end their aggression.

After months of U.S. prodding, the Security Council last week authorized the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to take military action to enforce a no-fly zone over Bosnia. But the effective date was postponed until sometime next week.

Gen. John M. Shalikashvili, Supreme Allied Commander of NATO forces, said Tuesday that between 60 and 70 aircraft probably will be needed for the enforcement operation.

Times staff writer Melissa Healy contributed to this report