U.N. Chief Considering Air Strikes on Serbs Unless They Allow Troop Rotation

U.N. Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali said Friday that he is considering ordering air strikes against Serbian forces unless they allow the rotation of U.N. peacekeeping troops in Bosnia-Herzegovina within days.

Boutros-Ghali said he has not gotten a request for air strikes, which would be undertaken by NATO planes, but his remarks appeared to reflect growing impatience with the lack of Serbian cooperation with the U.N. mission in Bosnia.

“Personally, I am in favor of the use of air power,” Boutros-Ghali said. “If we receive a request, I will certainly give the green light after consultation with the Security Council.”

He has said in the past that he would order air strikes if he gets a recommendation from his special envoy in the former Yugoslav federation, Yasushi Akashi, and his military commanders in Bosnia.

Last week in Brussels, North Atlantic Treaty Organization leaders stated their commitment to use air strikes if necessary to protect U.N. troops guarding the Muslim enclave of Srebrenica in eastern Bosnia and open an air strip at Tuzla in northern Bosnia.

Dutch peacekeepers were supposed to replace Canadian troops protecting Srebrenica, but Serbian gunners surrounding the enclave have blocked the rotation.

While the Serbs have apparently agreed to the Srebrenica rotation, they have said no to opening the Tuzla airport for humanitarian aid flights.

“I have received today information that the problem (in Srebrenica) is on the point of being resolved,” Boutros-Ghali told reporters.

“If (the rotation) does not happen, then we will have to make the decision to use air power.”

Air strikes would have to be authorized by Boutros-Ghali.

“Before agreeing to use air power, we have to agree on what our plan of action will be, and that is what we are doing now,” he said.

Akashi presented a cease-fire plan earlier this week, and Boutros-Ghali said that he hopes it will be agreed to by the Serbian forces.