United Nations, Thursday
BOSNIAN Serb leader Radovan Karadzic is pulling out of United Nations
peace talks in New York for the moment and returning home, his wife said
today.
It was not immediately clear when or if Karadzic would return to
participate in the conference headed by Cyrus Vance and Lord Owen on
ending the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina
Mrs Liljana Karadzic did not give a reason for the Bosnian Serb
leader's return home but she said the couple had been asked leave their
New York hotels because of demonstrations.
''They asked us to leave because the demonstrations were bothering the
other guests,'' she said, referring to protesters who had gathered
outside the Intercontinental and Grand Hyatt hotels, calling her husband
a war criminal
Karadzic's departure came after Bosnian Muslim forces launched a major
offensive near Sarajevo airport to break the 10-month Serbian siege of
the embattled Bosnian capital.
Four French soldiers in the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR)
were injured in the fighting, three seriously, as well as two
journalists, including a freelance American photographer working for
Reuters.
The fighting came only hours after the United States revealed its
policy on Bosnia and prepared to take a direct role in the talks.
Karadzic, called a possible war criminal by former US Secretary of
State Lawrence Eagleburger, has been on a tight leash in New York with a
visa allowing him movement only within a radius of 10 city blocks from
the United Nations.
All sides in the conflict, as well as Vance and Owen, have welcomed
the US proposals which exclude the use of military force before a
settlement is reached and a tightening of sanctions against the rump
Yugoslavia.
Belgrade welcomed American involvement in efforts to end the war in
Bosnia but said it was astonished at the prospect of new sanctions
against Belgrade.
US Secretary of State Warren Christopher listed six limited steps
Washington would take to try to end the war.
He made clear that more drastic options, including the use of US air
power against Bosnian Serbs and allowing Muslims to acquire arms for
self-defence, had been ruled out.
Three British soldiers had a lucky escape today when their Land-Rover
was hit by an anti-tank round. The driver was slightly injured with a
minor shrapnel wound in one leg while the other two escaped unhurt in
the attack south of the town of Tuzla.
Major Martin Waters, the British forces spokesman at the UK Vitez
base, said the men were on a familiarisation trip from their barracks in
the Croatian port of Split. ''They were on their own at the time and
they seem to have taken the wrong turning,'' he said.
* Prime Minister John Major welcomed President Bill Clinton's
initiative to help end the war in Bosnia.
Mr Major said at Question Time in the Commons: ''The best way forward,
the only credible way forward that has yet been found, is the Vance-Owen
plan which we strongly support.''
However, Liberal Democrat leader Paddy Ashdown said of the Vance-Owen
plan: ''This is not a peace of which either you or other Western leaders
can feel proud.
''For it is your failures which have resulted in a price being paid in
the dismemberment of the Muslim community, the disintegration of a state
which had recognition from the United Nations, and reward for the
aggressors.''--Reuter/PA
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article