Minus New Bosnia Plan, Allies Push Old Proposal

Unable to agree on any new measures, five of the world’s most powerful nations Friday fell back on a months-old plan to end the war in Bosnia that has already been rejected by Serbian forces.

After an apparently acrimonious four-hour meeting, the foreign ministers of the United States, Britain, France, Russia and Germany--known collectively as the Contact Group--could agree only to reiterate the peace plan they advanced in July as a take-it-or-leave-it ultimatum to the warring factions.

Unlike in July, however, there were no suggestions of punishment for any faction that refused to go along. After the Bosnian Serbs rejected the earlier plan, the Contact Group failed to carry through its threat to repeal the arms embargo against the under-equipped Bosnian army or to impose other sanctions.

This time, U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher said, the five nations considered but rejected suggestions to increase the use of air power to try to force the Serbs to agree to peace.

“What we seek here is peace, not a reign of terror which would result from carpet bombing,” Christopher said.

He added that U.S. military officials doubt that bombing would have a major impact on the war.

At the same time, the five nations could not agree on any new provision to sweeten the appeal of the plan to the Bosnian Serbs.

Russian Foreign Minister Andrei V. Kozyrev pressed for holding out the prospect of an eventual confederation between the Bosnian Serbs and the government of Serbia. But U.S. officials said Christopher “beat back” explicit language on the subject, agreeing only that Bosnian parties can negotiate “constitutional arrangements” acceptable to all.

Throughout the meeting, Russia suggested concessions to the Bosnian Serbs and the government of Serbia. But they were rejected.

Although the meeting fell short of expectations, Christopher said, “The combined pressure of five nations is a significant force to bring to bear.”

The Muslim-led Bosnian government, the Bosnian Croat faction, the government of Croatia and the government of Serbia have all accepted the plan, which calls for partition of Bosnia with a federation of the government and the Bosnian Croats getting 51% of the land, and 49% going to the Serbs, who now hold more than 70% of the territory.

Although there was no change in the basic proposal, the powers appeared to place all their hope on what they termed “a reinvigorated diplomatic effort” that has already begun.

Charles Redman, once Washington’s Balkan trouble-shooter and now U.S. ambassador to Germany, is already in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina, for meetings with Bosnian government officials.

British Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd and French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said they will visit Belgrade on Sunday to urge Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic to exert increasing pressure on the Bosnian Serbs, the faction that he trained and armed.

U.S. officials said Redman was selected to go to Sarajevo because he had developed a good rapport with Bosnian government officials.

In a formal communique issued after their meeting, the ministers appeared to dampen speculation that the 24,000 U.N. peacekeepers now deployed in Bosnia-Herzegovina might soon be withdrawn.

They called the U.N. mission one of “great importance” and added: “It should continue provided that the risks do not become unacceptable.”

France, Britain and Russia have sizable contingents of troops in the U.N. force.

Kozyrev called for relaxation of economic sanctions against the government of Serbia to reward Milosevic for accepting the plan.

The Russian foreign minister predicted that gradually the world would agree to reward Serbia, although a U.S.-led effort rejected that step, at least for now.

The foreign ministers appeared to have few answers when asked repeatedly at a news conference why they believed a plan already rejected by the Bosnian Serbs might now somehow gain acceptance.

“The road will be very difficult,” Christopher admitted. “But we don’t see any other road to take.”

Added a clearly agitated Juppe: “If we’d allowed failure to put us off, we’d never achieve anything. We shall keep trying and keep trying.”