Carter Brings Peace Mission to Bosnian Capital

Former President Jimmy Carter arrived in this besieged capital Sunday on a controversial peace mission being conducted against a backdrop of skepticism and distrust--but also faint hope.

A U.N. jet carrying Carter landed amid tight security at the bombed-out airport as the afternoon sun slipped behind the rugged mountains ringing Sarajevo, where 10,000 people have been killed in the 32-month civil war.

“I have a limited role,” Carter said on a tarmac lined with sandbag fortifications. “What I would like to do, obviously, is to understand the situation and contribute to the alleviation of tension.”

Sarajevo’s shattered residents harbor hope that the latest in a string of frustrated peace missions might bring an end to the most horrific European war in half a century. More than 250,000 people have died or are missing in the war, which began when Bosnian Serb separatists rebelled against Bosnia-Herzegovina’s 1992 secession from the former Yugoslav federation.

But the capital showed few signs of the tranquillity and relative normalcy promised by Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic when he invited the former President last week. It was only the second day in nearly a month that the rebels had granted security guarantees for U.N. aircraft to land.

Shortly before Carter reached Sarajevo, an explosive believed to be a rocket-propelled grenade pounded the Holiday Inn, home to many journalists and official visitors, destroying three unoccupied rooms. On the city’s streets, sniper fire injured a 73-year-old woman, while an exploding rifle grenade wounded a French U.N. peacekeeper and a woman.

Throughout the evening, the clatter of gunfire and the pounding of explosives served as constant reminders that Karadzic’s pledge of a cease-fire in the area had not been honored. U.N. Protection Force officials also reported that convoys of food and fuel were blocked by Bosnian Serbs, in violation of another Karadzic promise, while access to the airport continued to be restricted.

“A lot of the same problems remain,” one U.N. official said.

Carter, who had said he would not become involved in the peace process unless Karadzic honored his pledges, was apprised of the Bosnian Serb actions in meetings in Zagreb, Croatia, and Sarajevo on Sunday. But he decided to go forward with his mission anyway.

“I think that I have received enough assurance to go to Pale,” said Carter, referring to the self-proclaimed Bosnian Serb capital near Sarajevo where he is scheduled to meet Karadzic and other Bosnian Serb leaders this morning.

After arriving here Sunday, Carter held talks with Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic. In a brief news conference following the meeting, Carter said he supports the so-called Contact Group peace plan, which would divide Bosnia roughly in half between the Bosnian Serbs and the Muslim-led Bosnian government.

Critics of Carter’s peace effort say Karadzic hopes to manipulate the mission to undo the Contact Group plan, which has been accepted by all parties except the Bosnian Serbs. The Bosnian government and the five-nation Contact Group, including the United States, have insisted that any mediation effort by Carter start only after Karadzic agrees to the existing plan.

Carter, however, would not directly answer questions about whether the plan itself might be negotiable, saying only that “there is no other basis for future negotiations” and that “whatever is done within the Contact Group plan must be mutually decided” by the Bosnian government and the Bosnian Serbs.

Izetbegovic was less equivocating. He ruled out any changes to the plan and said Carter had assured him that the mission is aimed at securing Karadzic’s acceptance of an unaltered document, which would require the Bosnian Serbs to give up about one-third of the territory they now control.

Karadzic turned down the plan in the summer, a decision that was endorsed by a Bosnian Serb referendum. But the Bosnian president said Carter indicated “that there is a readiness” on Karadzic’s part to accept the plan, although Carter would not comment on this issue.

“I have very clearly pointed out that . . . the plan of the Contact Group would be the starting point for further negotiations, and Mr. Carter has very clearly confirmed that and said if he were in our shoes he would ask the same,” Izetbegovic said.

Carter appeared to be keeping his options open.

“I told the president (Izetbegovic) that I will come back here to report to him and that I hope my visit will be fruitful,” he said. “It is too early for me to give any definitive answers.”

Carter began his current trip in Frankfurt, Germany, where he met with U.N. and U.S. officials before flying to Zagreb. In the Croatian capital, he held talks with Bosnian Prime Minister Haris Silajdzic, Croatian President Franjo Tudjman, U.N. special envoy Yasushi Akashi and Peter Galbraith, the U.S. ambassador to Croatia.

Following their meeting, Akashi expressed confidence in Carter’s effort, saying that the former President “is too intelligent to be manipulated by anybody.”

Silajdzic expressed fears that the Bosnian Serbs will use Carter’s visit to divert attention from heavy fighting in northwest Bosnia, where Bosnian Serbs are trying to overrun the U.N.-declared “safe area” of Bihac. In Sarajevo, Izetbegovic echoed the concerns.

“Since we have been speaking about the visit of Mr. Carter, the fighting in Bihac has intensified,” Izetbegovic said. “So we are fearing that this might just be a curtain (so) that this job in the Bihac region (can) be completed militarily.”

In Pale, a Bosnian Serb spokesman said Karadzic had no sinister motives in calling for Carter’s participation in the peace process and that the Bosnian Serb leader hoped only to “break the deadlock in the peace process.”

U.N. officials said Carter would spend Sunday night at the U.N. residence of Lt. Gen. Michael Rose, the U.N. commander for Bosnia, who was in Italy for military meetings. Carter, joined by his wife, Rosalynn, and two aides, will tour Sarajevo this morning before traveling to Pale, the officials said.