Relief for Serbia to Be Offered, Official Says

The United States, worried about war spreading in the Balkans, has agreed with its Contact Group allies to offer Serbia substantial relief from U.N. economic sanctions as part of a new Bosnia peace initiative, a senior U.S. official said Tuesday.

The offer represents a significant change in what had been a hard U.S. line against Serbia and reflects what American officials see as their diminishing options in the race to head off a widening conflict in the heart of Europe.

The Contact Group, made up of the United States, Russia, Germany, Britain and France, “signed off on the general approach” of the new initiative and will formally present it to Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic in the next few days, said the official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity.

He said the proposal, which has been approved by President Clinton, would offer Milosevic “the suspension but not lifting (of U.N. economic sanctions) for limited and renewable periods” of time.

In return, Serbia must agree to stay out of any possible war in Croatia, tighten the embargo on Bosnian Serbs and grant diplomatic recognition to Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia and Macedonia.

Granting recognition to Bosnia as a sovereign country would be a blow to Milosevic’s hopes for a Greater Serbia.

Under the proposed deal, Milosevic would also have to agree to the posting of more monitors on Serbia’s border with Bosnia to check on his compliance with a pledge to stop arming Serbs in Bosnia. Weapons are still getting through to the Serbs in Bosnia despite a pledge by Milosevic to cut them off, the official said.

He said it is not at all certain Milosevic will accept the proposal. He stressed that while sanctions relief would be a “big economic plus” for Serbia, any permanent member of the U.N. Security Council could force reimposition of the sanctions if Serbia does not fulfill its commitments.

He also said Serbia would not be readmitted to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and other international groups and would not be eligible for International Monetary Fund assistance or be exempted from war crimes tribunal prosecution.

Peace efforts have stalled over the Bosnian Serbs’ refusal to consider a Contact Group plan that would give them control over 49% of Bosnia and a Muslim-Croatian federation 51%.

The U.S. official acknowledged that the proposal would not necessarily alter prospects for peace. But the isolation of the Bosnian Serbs would be deepened, and the five countries would stiffen their sanctions against them, he said.

All sides acknowledged Tuesday that a 6-week-old cease-fire in Bosnia, which is supposed to last until May 1, is in trouble.

Bosnian Serbs fired on a U.N. medical helicopter and broke a pledge to let the United Nations deliver aid to Muslims in the northwest Bihac enclave, where U.N. aid officials say 150,000 people have “little more than scraps left to eat” after eight months of blockade.

Serbs blamed the Muslim-led government for the heavy fighting in the Bihac region.