Serbs Down U.S. Jet, Start to Free U.N. Peacekeepers : Bosnia: Fate of American pilot, on routine patrol of 'no fly' zone, is unknown. Even as the rebels hand over one-third of their captives, they capture 19 others.

By TRACY WILKINSON and MICHAEL ROSS

June 3, 1995 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITERS

BELGRADE, Yugoslavia —

Sending decidedly mixed signals, Bosnian Serbs aimed their weapons at NATO aircraft Friday and brought down an American jet fighter over northern Bosnia-Herzegovina, then later began releasing U.N. peacekeepers held hostage for the last week.

The pilot of the American F-16, downed by a surface-to-air missile while on patrol, was missing but may have been taken prisoner by the Bosnian Serb army, officials of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization said.

Bosnian Serb leaders, meanwhile, turned over the first 126 of more than 370 hostages seized after NATO bombed rebel Serb ammunition depots. Serbia’s state security chief, who took custody of the captives, said early today that he expected the rest of the hostages to be released soon. The hostages were to be released to U.N. authorities in Belgrade today.

Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic took credit for the hostage release in what diplomats said was an attempt to prove to the West that he still influences his onetime proteges, the Bosnian Serbs.

He is involved in marathon negotiations with a senior U.S. envoy over lifting international economic sanctions imposed against Serbia for its support of Serbian separatists in Bosnia and Croatia.

Yet any points the Bosnian Serbs thought they might win by freeing some peacekeeper-hostages may be lost with the NATO jet attack, seen by the West as a further act of defiance in a war that has left the international community muddled and desperate.

In other Balkans-related developments Friday:

* President Clinton, saying he was concerned about the fate of the missing pilot, nevertheless pledged to remain firm on a new policy that envisions sending U.S. ground forces to Bosnia, if requested by the NATO allies. It is a “moral obligation” to help U.N. peacekeeping missions, he said. Yet Friday’s loss of an American fighter plane raises the specter of American casualties in the widening Bosnia war and has electrified the debate in Washington and elsewhere in the United States.

* Even as some hostages were being released, Bosnian Serb gunmen captured another 16 French and three Ukrainian peacekeepers, U.N. officials said.

* Defense ministers of NATO were to meet today in Paris to define the future of allied military operations in the Balkans. The Europeans may be leaning toward seeking U.S. logistics help with a proposed rapid deployment force and not for American ground troops.

* U.N. Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali insisted that peacekeepers could accomplish more in Bosnia if they gave up any mandate to use force. He said in a television interview that peacekeepers could better defend besieged “safe areas” such as Gorazde and Tuzla if they could use their weapons only in self-defense. “One of the difficulties today [is] that you are looked [on] by one of the protagonists as his enemy,” he said. He insisted that any real attempt at military enforcement of peace in Bosnia would require more than 100,000 troops and would fail.

The Shoot-Down

The single-seat Air Force F-16C shot down over Bosnia was based in Aviano in northern Italy and was part of a multi-aircraft deployment taking part in Operation Deny, the NATO mission to enforce the “no fly” zone over northern Bosnia.

Along with a companion F-16, it was on a routine patrol of the zone when it was shot down about 3 p.m. local time (6 a.m. PDT).

Citing concern for the pilot’s safety, the Pentagon refused to discuss details of the incident other than to say that “the entire focus at the moment is on the recovery of the pilot and the protection of the air crews that are going in for the rescue.”

But in Naples, site of NATO’s Southern Command, officials said that still-unconfirmed reports of the pilot’s capture had been relayed to U.S. officials through the United Nations, which said the Bosnian Serbs had promised to guarantee the officer’s safety.

Officials said the pilot of the companion F-16 had not seen the pilot of the downed aircraft eject from his plane after it was hit, most probably by a Russian-made SA-6 surface-to-air missile.

“Our expectations are that . . . the pilot ejected and has been recovered by the Bosnian Serb army. . . . But we cannot confirm tonight that this actually happened,” Adm. Leighton Smith, the commander of NATO forces in the area, told Cable News Network.

Bosnian Serb military sources were quoted as saying the plane was downed near Mrkonjic Grad, about 25 miles south of Banja Luka, in an area controlled by rebel Serb forces.

A Bosnian Serb stronghold, Banja Luka is about 90 miles northwest of Sarajevo. Last month, the city was flooded by thousands of refugees fleeing a Croatian offensive on Serb-occupied territory in Croatia, and Serbian militia in Banja Luka retaliated against the Croats by blowing up and torching a Catholic church and a monastery. A priest and a nun were killed, and hundreds of non-Serbs have been expelled.

On Friday, the plane exploded in midair and a parachute was spotted moments before the plane’s wreckage crashed on the outskirts of Mrkonjic Grad, the Bosnian Serb sources said.

A senior U.S. military official said the “very aggressive” search and rescue operation normally involves a phalanx of helicopters operated by teams trained in day and night “extractions.” Jet fighters and attack aircraft provide cover for the more vulnerable helicopters.

This rescue may be especially difficult as it entails penetration deep into hostile territory guarded by heavy, relatively sophisticated air defenses, experts said. Jets in the mission could be imperiled by SA-6 radar-guided missiles that rebel Serbs have and which particularly threaten rescue aircraft forced to fly at the low altitude. Truck-mounted and highly mobile, the missiles could be difficult to find in the rugged Bosnian terrain.

The F-16 downed Friday was one of about a dozen operating out of Aviano and participating in Operation Deny. In all, nearly 100 Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps craft are part of the 2-year-old mission to enforce “no fly” zones in the Balkans and to provide air support for U.N. peacekeeping forces. Britain, France, Spain, Turkey and the Netherlands also are in this mission.

Although the Bosnian Serbs have fired on them often, until Friday the only NATO aircraft downed by hostile fire over Bosnia had been a British Sea Harrier shot down near Gorazde on April 16, 1994, while participating in an air strike against rebel Serbs. The pilot was later safely recovered.

Friday’s attack, which followed two failed attempts to shoot down NATO aircraft earlier this week, raised questions as to whether the Bosnian Serbs were now targeting alliance forces after air strikes that prompted them to take nearly 400 U.N. peacekeepers hostage last week.

But asked if the Bosnian Serbs were stepping up attacks on NATO planes, a senior Pentagon official said he had not detected any increase in either the “nature or the level” of the threat.

Commenting on the F-16 that was shot down Friday, Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic said the plane should not have been flying over Serbian territory.

“We are the masters of our skies,” Karadzic told Bosnian Serb television.

The Hostages

Friday’s actions involving the hostages were wrapped in a bizarre flourish of theatrics designed to enhance Milosevic’s desired image as regional powerbroker.

After a day of rumors and denials, the Serbian presidency announced that the Bosnian Serb leadership, heeding Milosevic’s appeals, had decided to free 126 men as a sign of goodwill.

Government-controlled television then broadcast footage of the peacekeepers, knapsacks in hand, boarding buses to Serbia.

Early today, Serbian state security chief Jovica Stanisic, who supervised the hand-over of the French, Swedish, Canadian, Danish and British U.N. troops, said, “We hope that the remaining members of the United Nations will be released in the next few days.”

Stanisic told reporters that all but two of the hostages were in good health. The two had been injured in a car accident.

The freed hostages, who arrived in Serbia early today, were to be turned over to representatives of their governments in Belgrade today, Stanisic said.

One French officer said he and his men had been well treated.

“We found out in the afternoon that we were going to be released, and here we are. We were very correctly treated during the week,” he said.

The Milosevic intervention followed the latest of many meetings with U.S. envoy Robert Frasure, who is trying to persuade Milosevic to recognize Bosnia in exchange for suspension of international sanctions.

Milosevic’s potential bargaining chip--his ability to influence the Bosnian Serbs--had come into doubt because of a bitter rift between the Serbian president and Karadzic.

Despite the release, other Serb rebels seized 16 French peacekeepers earlier in the day from an arms warehouse north of Sarajevo. Three Ukrainians were captured near the besieged “safe area” of Gorazde in eastern Bosnia. But a Swedish civilian taken hostage Thursday in Banja Luka was freed unharmed Friday.

The contradictions in rebel Serb actions may reflect a power struggle, diplomats said, in which the more hard-line members are determined to stand fast against international pressure, while the more pragmatic elements may be seeking a way out of an impossible predicament.

Anxious Lawmakers

On Capitol Hill, the downing of the jet over Bosnia on Friday reinforced many lawmakers’ fears about the United States getting further embroiled in the strife-torn region. Members of Congress who were already critical of the U.N. peacekeeping operation said the incident showed vividly that the policy was not merely inadequate but also put American lives at risk.

“This shooting down just reinforces the argument that we’re engaged in a futile enterprise of trying to keep peace in a place where there is no peace,” said Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.) said the missing pilot was the “latest tragic victim” of a flawed policy that has seen U.N. troops’ role creep far beyond its original humanitarian role. “It has been a confused policy, a confusing policy,” he said. “It has featured half steps and missteps.”

Many lawmakers squirmed over the question of what U.S. policy should be in response, and the hand-wringing may never coalesce into a coherent alternative to the Administration’s policy.

“Every option is fraught with tremendous political risks,” said Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City). “Congress will carp and criticize and hold hearings and second-guess and in the end do everything it can to avoid taking a firm clear-cut position because it doesn’t want to bear the responsibility of the consequences.”

That process will begin soon after Congress returns Monday from this week’s Memorial Day recess. Hearings on Bosnia are scheduled in the House and Senate, and the issue may come to a vote on the House floor as early as next week.

During debate on a pending foreign policy bill, Rep. Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) may offer an amendment calling on the United States to unilaterally lift the arms embargo against Bosnia--a step supported by many Democrats as well as Republicans as a means of enabling the Muslim-led Bosnian government to defend itself.

Even before the U.S. plane was shot down, many members of Congress were wary of Clinton’s suggestion that U.S. troops might be used to help evacuate or redeploy U.N. forces in Bosnia.

Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) suggested that he might not oppose a U.S. role in an evacuation of U.N. peacekeepers but flatly rejected the idea of any broader use of American ground forces. “Not on my watch,” he said. “The U.N. mission in Bosnia has failed. It must be withdrawn.”

House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) was more measured in his criticism but urged Clinton to follow through on his promise to confer with Congress.

“I would hope they’d very thoroughly consult with Congress before doing anything that would risk American lives,” Gingrich said. “We don’t want to end up looking foolish or looking helpless.”

Wilkinson reported from Belgrade and Ross from Washington. Times staff writers Melissa Healy, Janet Hook, Doyle McManus, Stanley Meisler and Paul Richter in Washington contributed to this report.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

American Plane Shot Down

The plane that went down had been on a longstanding mission to prohibit Bosnian Serbs and their opponents from using aircraft in their civil war.

The Downing

Pilot: A search-and-rescue operation was under way for the American pilot.

Serb reaction: “We are the masters of our skies,” said Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic.

The Target

F-16C Fighting Falcon

Make: American

Crew: One

Speed: Mach 2

Range: 24,000 miles