Serbs demand more time to quit Sarajevo

Bosnia peace plan: Nato commander weighs up request for delay in transfer of suburbs for up to a year beyond deadline

EMMA DALY

Pale

The Nato commander in Bosnia, Admiral Leighton Smith, promised yesterday to consider a Bosnian Serb request for a delay in the transfer of Serb- held suburbs of Sarajevo to control by the Bosnian government, as laid down in the Dayton peace plan. But alliance officials said he was unlikely to agree to a substantial postponement of the Dayton schedule.

Momcilo Krajisnik, the official standing in for Radovan Karadzic, who is barred from contact with Nato under threat of arrest for war crimes, spoke at length of "problems" around Serb-held Sarajevo and called for a "solution". The first step, he said, would be to delay the hand-over for up to a year.

Admiral Smith refused the request yesterday, but added: "I told Krajisnik we will take into account all aspects of the agreement and we would hopefully render a decision acceptable to all. Other than that, no guarantees were made."

The US commander, making his first visit to Pale, the mountain village serving as Bosnian Serb "capital", expressed satisfaction with progress made in the first week by Nato's peace Implementation Force (I-For).

Serbs living in the five suburbs due to revert to government rule - Ilidza, Grbavica, Vogosca, Ilijas and Hadzici - have legitimate fears about life under enemy rule. But it is clear that Mr Krajisnik, who signed the Dayton agreement on the Bosnian Serbs' behalf, hopes to circumvent the plan as it pertains to Sarajevo. He described it as "not a just solution". The Serbs signed only under strong pressure from their mentor, President Slobodan Milosevic of Serbia.

"I hope the situation will be clearer very soon and that we shall find a good solution to Sarajevo, and remove one of the basic obstacles to implementation," Mr Krajisnik said in Pale.

"We think that the Dayton agreement must not be put at stake but we think that while I-For is here, there should be an extension of the transfer of authority in order to bring time to bring a good decision."

Both sides are obliged to withdraw front-line positions around the city by midnight tonight, seven days after Nato's arrival on D-Day, 20 December; the Bosnian Serbs are to pull out of the Sarajevo suburbs by "D plus 45" on 3 February. The Bosnian government is not due to take control until "D plus 90" and the Serbs want that 45-day period extended.

As to Mr Krajisnik's request for a delay, which might, he said, be for two, three, five, nine or 12 months, Admiral Smith reserved judgement, pending consultation with I-For colleagues. "I didn't say yes or no. Anything is possible," he said, emphasising that while he has no power to renegotiate Dayton, he is authorised to extend the deadlines.

Residents of the five suburbs, who mistrust Bosnian governments promises that all except "war criminals" are welcome to stay, have been preparing for an exodus. An extension of the sort that the Serbs want, amounting to a renegotiation of the deal, is highly unlikely, alliance officials say.

"There will be no tinkering with the time-lines - nobody is going to renegotiate the deal," a Nato source said. I-For's attitude to the Bosnian Serbs has been: you signed the deal, you comply with it.

tParis - The two French pilots freed two weeks ago after being shot down over Bosnia in August were tortured by their Bosnian Serb captors, then ordered by a French general to cover it up, according to the weekly Le Canard Enchaine, agencies report.

Citing a secret military debriefing report, the newspaper said Bosnian Serb soldiers beat and kicked Captain Frederic Chiffot and Lieutenant Jose Souvignet, breaking Capt Chiffot's nose; guards kicked them in the broken legs they sustained after ejecting from their Mirage 2000; they were "thrown" food about every three days, and the Serb military commander, Ratko Mladic, personally threatened them with torture and death.

Before their release, as the Dayton agreement was nearing completion, the Canard said, the rough treatment ceased and the men were "fattened ... up''. The pilots have refused to give any details to reporters.