Bosnia Cease-Fire Threatened by Fighting and Haggling Over Truce Accord

Heavy shelling in the northwestern enclave of Bihac and disagreements over the implementation of the truce accord have threatened the cease-fire between the Muslim-led Government and Bosnian Serb rebels, which began on New Year's Day. Despite the slow-down of fighting elsewhere, the region of Bihac continues to experience intense artillery and mortar explosions, with over 300 recorded on Tuesday. The United Nations has blamed rebel Serbs from the Krajina region in Croatia and renegade Muslim allies for the clashes with Bosnian Government troops, but acknowledges that these forces have not signed the truce.

Key Takeaways:

• The cease-fire between the Muslim-led Government and Bosnian Serb rebels is threatened by fighting in the northwestern enclave of Bihac and disagreements over the truce accord.
• Heavy shelling has been recorded in the vicinity of Velika Kladusa in the north of the Bihac enclave, with 300 artillery and mortar explosions recorded on Tuesday and more shelling reported today.
• United Nations officials have blamed rebel Serbs from the Krajina region in Croatia and renegade Muslim allies for the clashes with Bosnian Government troops, but cited that these forces have not signed the truce.
• Seven hours of talks between the Bosnian Muslim-led Government and rebel Serbs failed to produce agreement on implementing key aspects of the accord, with the main issue being the inspection of the demilitarized zone on Mount Igman.
• The negotiations were put off until later in the week after the Government rejected a Serb request to inspect the demilitarized zone to verify that Government troops had left.
• The United Nations commander in Bosnia, Lieut. Gen. Sir Michael Rose, hopes to reconvene the talks on Friday with leaders of both sides.
• United Nations officials now want to broker a separate local cease-fire for the Bihac pocket.

Statistics:

• 300 artillery and mortar explosions recorded in the vicinity of Velika Kladusa in the north of the Bihac enclave on Tuesday.
• Over 7 hours of talks failed to produce agreement between the Bosnian Muslim-led Government and rebel Serbs on implementing key aspects of the truce accord.
• 4-5 days since the cease-fire began on New Year's Day, with heavy shelling still reported in the Bihac enclave.
• As many as 2 separate cease-fires to be brokered: one for Bosnia as a whole and a separate local cease-fire for the Bihac pocket.

Sources:

• UN officials, cited by Reuters
• Lieut. Gen. Sir Michael Rose, United Nations commander in Bosnia
• Alexander Ivanko, United Nations spokesman
• Aleksa Buha, Bosnian Serb official
• Reuters, cited in the article