Bosnian Serbs Turn Down Peace Plan

Bosnian Serbs turned down a take-it-or-leave-it peace deal Wednesday, dashing hopes for peace and testing the international resolve for reprisals.

U.S. envoy Charles Redman told reporters that “the Serbs have not been able to accept” the plan, sponsored by the United States, Russia, France, Britain and Germany. Serbian leaders refused to talk to reporters.

The five nations had threatened to lift the arms embargo on the Muslim-led Bosnian government if Serbs rejected the proposal, presented two weeks ago in a bid to end 27 months of war. They also threatened to tighten sanctions against Serbs.

Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic arrived in Geneva on Wednesday and refused to discuss the Serbian position before meeting with the plan’s sponsors.

But on Tuesday, sources close to the Serbian leadership said the Serbs’ self-styled parliament set conditions for acceptance that amount to a renegotiation of the entire plan.

The United States and its allies said they would not accept any conditional response from the warring parties.

“We were all disappointed that the answer was not what we expected,” Redman said.