Bosnia Cease-Fire Talks Called Off

Bosnia’s latest cease-fire was close to collapsing Saturday after the United Nations failed to bring the warring sides together to talk about salvaging it.

The Muslim-led government’s meeting with the commander of the Bosnian Serb army and U.N. representatives would have sought to prolong the monthlong truce, already rocked in the last week by renewed conflict, beyond July 10.

The unstable cease-fire, the first overall truce called since the conflict began, was intended to provide a breathing space for the work of international mediators.

The U.N. commander in Bosnia, Lt. Gen. Michael Rose of Britain, had hoped talks would cool main battlefronts and produce a pact to curb recent sniper fire in Sarajevo.

A U.N. spokesman, Maj. Rob Annink, said senior military and political officials of the Muslim-led government balked at taking part in the meeting. They apparently wanted to discuss only an agreement to stop sniper attacks. That was not enough for the Serbs, who had been agreeable to a meeting of top officials.

Annink said the United Nations was trying to get the two sides to meet today.

There were more reports Saturday of artillery fire in northern and central Bosnia, Annink said. He said most of the fighting apparently was provoked by government forces.

While he refused to characterize the cease-fire as useless, he agreed that violence was increasing daily.