Mediator says EU decisions on Serbia 'could help'

GENEVA - The UN mediator, Thorvald Stoltenberg, said yesterday a recent European Union decision to link Bosnian peace moves with the gradual suspension of sanctions on Serbia could help the search for a negotiated settlement, Reuter reports.

But Mr Stoltenberg, co-chairman with Britain's Lord Owen of the international conference on former Yugoslavia, said he did not expect a peace deal to be struck quickly when Bosnian factions meet in Geneva next week. 'I would be very pleasantly surprised if we got a peace agreement next week,' he told a news conference, 'but my hope is that we get the basis for further negotiations.'