U.S., Allies Pledge Decisive Response to Protect Gorazde : Bosnia: 16-nation conference backs Washington’s plan for ‘attacks on significant targets’ if Bosnian Serbs assault ‘safe area.’ Failure could doom U.N. mission.

The United States and its major European allies agreed Friday to take “substantial and decisive” action--almost certainly a wide-ranging campaign of punishing air strikes--if Bosnian Serb forces attack the “safe area” of Gorazde in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

“These will be significant attacks on significant targets--no more pinprick strikes,” Secretary of State Warren Christopher declared after a daylong conference here of the 16 countries that have contributed troops, equipment and money to the often-humiliated U.N. military force in Bosnia.

“We can’t afford any more empty threats,” Christopher said in reference to growing evidence that the rebel Serbs no longer pay much attention when the international community sets limits because so many have been imposed and ignored during the 39-month Bosnian war.

U.S. officials said the conference agreed to everything Washington had wanted to stiffen the defense of Gorazde, a U.N.-protected enclave that is in peril after Bosnian Serb assaults on Srebrenica and Zepa, two other internationally declared havens in eastern Bosnia. Gorazde and Zepa, the United Nations reported, were under Bosnian Serb assault Friday.

The conference did not, however, approve a U.S. plan to issue a similar threat of air bombardment if the Bosnian Serbs shell Sarajevo, the Bosnian capital.

Instead, the meeting here of foreign ministers, defense ministers and military chiefs of staff agreed to reinforce the U.N. garrison in Sarajevo and to use the newly minted European rapid-reaction force to open a corridor for food and relief supplies to the capital.

Christopher said that even without specific authorization from the conference, the air option could be quickly extended to Sarajevo if significant Bosnian Serb shelling resumed.

Under the plan approved by the conference, the international community will warn the Bosnian Serbs to call off their assault on Gorazde. If they ignore the warning, the conference called for decisive action.

The official communique, read to reporters by British Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind, said that such action probably would be through air strikes, although some countries are concerned about the risks of widespread air action.

Rifkind said there were no easy solutions. He said there was “clear recognition” that the fall of Gorazde, if it were to occur, would signal the end of the U.N. operation in Bosnia.

He said the conference agreed unanimously that it is desirable to keep the U.N. force in place. The United States has agreed to send 25,000 ground troops to Bosnia to help withdraw the U.N. force, if that should become necessary.

“We are not proposing to conduct an air campaign,” Defense Secretary William J. Perry said. “We are proposing to threaten an air campaign.” He said he hopes that will be enough.

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If there were air strikes, U.S. and allied officials said, the attacks would be carried out by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization warplanes already in the Balkans. The United States contributes about half of the aircraft and pilots.

Friday’s decisions here were not unanimous, the usual requirement for action at such international conferences. Russia objected to the threat of air strikes, but the United States and its major NATO allies decided to go ahead anyway.

The West was able to ignore Russian objections because the defense of Gorazde has been authorized by the U.N. Security Council--meaning, the Americans asserted, that it will not be necessary for Washington to obtain a new resolution in the council, where Russia has a veto. The resolutions apply, U.S. officials said, even though they were not effectively enforced.

“The Russians don’t have a veto,” Christopher said. “There is no further action by the U.N. Security Council required to take action.”

German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel, describing that lack of total agreement at the meeting, said that Russia had opposed military action to deter the Bosnian Serbs from overrunning Gorazde.

“In this eight-hour meeting, there was not an absolute unity of opinions,” he told reporters. “The Russians expressed their opinion that they rejected military actions and that they put strong weight on political negotiations.”

France came to the conference with its own plan to use the 12,500-member European rapid-reaction force to reinforce Gorazde. The French also requested U.S. helicopters to transport the reinforcements.

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The French proposal won few supporters--although the final communique said the rapid-reaction force may be used if other measures prove ineffective in preventing the Bosnian Serbs from overrunning the enclave. The communique gave no hint of whether U.S. helicopters would be used in that contingency.

American and allied military planners said that earlier attempts to use air power were hamstrung by a “dual key” procedure, which required Yasushi Akashi, the senior U.N. civilian official in the Balkans, to approve each attack. Akashi has often turned down military plans, and even when he has approved, crucial time has been lost.

The London conference decided to cut Akashi out of the script, although the participants agreed that air raids must be approved by both NATO and U.N. commanders.

“I am satisfied that we’ve made substantial changes for the better” in the U.N.-NATO command mechanism, Perry said.

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In a related development, Carl Bildt, the European Union’s new peace negotiator, said he is “very close” to wrapping up a deal in which Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic would recognize the independence of Bosnia and other parts of the shattered Yugoslav federation in exchange for the relaxation of economic sanctions against Serbia.

U.S. officials said that several matters remain to be tied down. Besides, one senior official said, the time is not right, following the Bosnian Serb assault on protected enclaves, to ease sanctions on Serbia.