Shift in the Winds Over Bosnia?

The proposal to demilitarize and internationalize Sarajevo deserves support. It could save that multiethnic city and help wind down the war.

At the Geneva peace talks, the three factions of war-torn Bosnia-Herzegovina agreed to form a tripartite committee that would work with mediators to permanently end the siege and to guarantee the city’s independence.

The essence of this preliminary agreement among the warring Serb, Croatian and Muslim parties is that the U.N. flag would be the only one flown over the city and its forces would be the only ones allowed inside the city. The agreement is only preliminary and certainly not a done deal. For starters, the United Nations is practically exhausted from all its recent peacekeeping involvements, from Camodia to Somalia, and getting U.N. troops there may be easier said than done.

But in recent days there has been a shift in the winds over Bosnia--brought about by the renewed specter of NATO air attacks against Serb positions if the Sarajevo siege continues, and perhaps also by the poignant little figure of 5-year-old Irma Hadzimuratovic, gravely injured by a Serbian mortar attack and flown out to London for care.

Irma’s saga riveted European opinion, as newspapers and TV news shows began to dramatize the human costs of the siege. Western governments began to talk of taking action--and almost overnight the feeling was that the horrible attacks had to be stopped, if necessary by Western force.

Yet even after agreeing to demilitarize Sarajevo, the warring factions cast doubt on the plan Tuesday; Bosnian Muslim President Alija Izetbegovic said he’s “not happy” with the tentative accord and will demand the lifting of the siege be put on the agenda at today’s U.N. meeting. Political winds can change frequently, sometimes in unfortunate ways.