Vote Backs U.N. Troops in Bosnia

Hoping to head off a threatened withdrawal of French peacekeepers, the Security Council on Wednesday demanded that all sides in the bitter ethnic war in Bosnia-Herzegovina stop shooting at U.N. troops.

By a 15-0 vote, the council approved a French resolution calling on Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali to recommend steps to protect U.N. forces and to make it easier for them to accomplish their mission.

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said earlier that Paris wants more liberal rules of engagement permitting U.N. troops to use force more readily than is now allowed. He said his government also wants to upgrade weapons assigned to the U.N. contingent.

The council resolution also called on all parties to the conflict to renew a tattered cease-fire, scheduled to expire April 30, and to resume peace talks.

The council acted just one day after the French government threatened to pull its 4,500 troops out of the U.N. force unless steps are taken to protect them and to bring the fighting to an end.

“We are allowing a situation to establish itself that is turning our soldiers into hostages,” Juppe said. “We can’t allow that. . . . France has the feeling that it has done its duty. It has had troops on the ground from the very beginning. Thirty-three have been killed.”

Despite the prompt action of the council, however, the situation in Bosnia remains bleak. Even if the United Nations acts to protect its troops, there seems to be little likelihood of a negotiated end to the conflict.

“No progress has been achieved, and no progress is in view,” French Ambassador Jean-Bernard Merimee admitted to reporters.