February 8, 1996
Web posted at: 10:10 p.m. EST (0310 GMT)
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (CNN) -- Richard Holbrooke, architect of the Dayton peace accord, and two other U.S. envoys rushed to the Balkans Thursday after the Bosnian Serb army severed all contacts with NATO forces, plunging the peace process into deeper crisis. The Serb army declared there would be no more meetings with the accord's implementers until the Bosnian government frees eight detained Serbs.
Secretary of State Warren Christopher dispatched Holbrooke from Budapest, Hungary, to Sarajevo to defuse the escalating dispute, which could derail the peace plan. Accompanying Holbrooke are Robert Gallucci, the U.S. official in charge of civilian implementation in Bosnia, and John Shattuck, who is responsible for enforcing human rights.
Christopher acted after talking to President Alija Izetbegovic of Bosnia and Slobodan Milosevic of Serbia from his airplane on a flight to Helsinki. On landing, he talked also to Croatian President Franjo Tudjman.
"The United States is sending a strong signal to all the parties that the United States wants the Dayton accords fully implemented," said State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns.
A NATO spokesman said the Bosnian Serb statement had no validity in NATO's eyes, since it was ordered by army commander General Ratko Mladic, one of 52 indicted war criminals.
"Under the Dayton peace agreement we are not authorized to communicate with indicted war criminals and we do not recognize General Mladic as an official representative of the Republic of Serbska," said Capt. Mark Van Dyke.
"Before we draw any conclusions, we would prefer to hear from the authorized leadership of the Republic of Serbska and would hope they would be more positive," Van Dyke said.
The Serbs have canceled all post-war talks in a row over the detention of two Serb army officers and at least six other men, which they say breaches the peace plan. They have also banned all Bosnian Serbs from visiting Moslem-Croat territory.
The Moslem-led Bosnian government has accused the detained officers of killing civilians and says it is holding them while the International War Crimes Tribunal investigates them.
This is not a crisis, stressed Burns, but a problem of implementation; one, he said, that has worried the United States since January 19 when the deadline for the release of prisoners expired without the mandate being followed.
Burns said the United States believes that any individuals who may have committed war crimes should be turned over to the tribunal in the Hague. In cases where there is no credible evidence, individuals who are detained should be released, he said.
The International War Crimes Tribunal has said it is interested in pursuing cases against two of the Bosnian Serbs who have been detained.
Urging Bosnian Serbs on Thursday to resume talks with NATO forces, the French foreign ministry said in a statement that war criminals must be punished, but dialogue in the joint commissions set up under the Dayton agreement was essential to implement the peace accords.
It said that under no circumstances should the freedom of movement -- particularly for the appointed negotiators -- be jeopardized.
The statement added that local authorities must leave the investigation to the Hague tribunal, and all parties must cooperate with it fully.
A 60,000-strong NATO-led force has been entrusted the task of implementing the military aspects of the two-month-old peace agreement, which ended nearly four years of war in the region.
AP contributed to this report.
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