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Clinton Announces Start of Bosnian Army Training Program By Carol Giacomo
"I am pleased to announce the start of the U.S.-led train and equip program for the armed forces of the Bosnian Federation," President Clinton said in a statement issued by the White House. He said the law, adopted by Bosnia's federation parliament virtually without debate after six months of wrangling, is an essential building block for a functioning federation, one of two entities in the new Bosnian state. The other is the Serb republic. "When implemented, it will strengthen security for all Bosnians and contribute significantly to lasting peace in the region," Clinton added.
Muslim and Croat officials still have not resolved the issue of who will be supreme commander of the army but have agreed to settle the matter within three months. That unresolved matter will not delay the train and equip program. U.S. officials said they do not consider it a problem. The United States has pledged $100 million in military equipment -- including helicopters and communications gear -- while Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey have given $140 million toward the program.
Clinton said the aim was to create a military equilibrium between Bosnia's Muslim-Croat army on the one hand and Bosnia's Serb army on the other hand as a deterrent to renewed warfare once 60,000 NATO-led troops left Bosnia. At the State Department, spokesman Nicholas Burns said it was "unfortunate" most European countries have refused to participate, arguing that adding weapons to the volatile region was a recipe for disaster.
The Europeans had for several years resisted intermittent U.S. pressure to arm the Muslims. But Burns said: "The peace will not be kept magically. It can only be kept if you create a situation on the ground of general equilibrium among the various military forces. That is the strategic rationale for undertaking the train and equip program." The United States made clear its intention to go forward with the arm and train program after mediating the Bosnia peace agreement last November at Dayton, Ohio.
After the peace treaty was signed, rival Muslim, Croat and Serb factions negotiated a separate regime under which Serbs would reduce their armaments. The arm and train program is seen by Washington as a complimentary move that will further eradicate the Serbs' heavy military advantage. Washington began laying plans for the arm and train program right after the peace deal was signed but delayed proceeding until the defense law was passed and until the Bosnian government forced Islamic militants from Iran and other countries to leave the country.
The United States certified last month that all organized groups of Islamic fighters had been disbanded. But officials acknowledged this week they still had concerns about unspecified numbers of unorganized militants still evident in Bosnia as a kind of paramilitary guard for President Alija Izetbegovic's nationalist Muslim political organization, the Party of Democratic Action.
Burns said Tuesday Izetbegovic has assured the United States he would look into the charges -- first reported by the Washington Post -- and make sure none of the militants presented a threat to 20,000 U.S. troops in the country as part of the NATO-led implementation force (IFOR). |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States pledged Tuesday to begin providing military training and equipment to Bosnia within weeks after adoption of a controversial defense law aimed at merging the Balkan country's Muslim and Croat armies. Officials said a contract with a private U.S. firm, MPRI of Alexandria, Virginia, to coordinate the $240 million program would likely be signed early next week in Sarajevo, with training to start two to four weeks later. Equipment would be sent as soon as transport could be arranged.
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