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Defense Secretary Finds No Quick Fix for Federation Army Spat
Secretary of Defense Promises to keep trying, but proves testy of issue of Karadzic and Mladic capture.
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina, July 4 (AP) -- Defense Secretary William J. Perry failed to secure immediate agreement between Bosnia’s Muslim and Croat federation partners Wednesday to take a key step toward long-term peace: combining their militaries. Perry met for about an hour with Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic and the civilian and military leaders of the Muslim and Croat armed forces in a bid to win a breakthrough agreement but came away with only promises to keep trying.
"Agreement is near," Perry declared at a news conference. "I sincerely hope agreement can be reached and ratified tomorrow," on a new law that would establish a joint military command and eventually lead to total military integration. Izetbegovic told reporters Perry had promised that if the defense law is enacted, the United States will immediately put into motion a long-planned program to provide weapons and training for the Muslim-Croat federation forces.
The Clinton administration has put together a $360 million train-and-equip program that it considers vital to a balance of power between the Muslim-Croat federation forces and the better armed Bosnian Serb army. Without the balance, war would be more likely to break out again after the NATO-led peacekeeping force completes its mission in Bosnia in December, U.S. officials say.
Among the arms the U.S. government is ready to provide are M-60 tanks, machine guns, ammunition, communications gear and utility helicopters. Contributing cash to the project are Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey. The Turks on their own also are providing training for the Bosnians.
On the fifth day of a fast-moving trip that began Saturday in the deserts of Saudi Arabia and ends Thursday with a Forth of July visit to U.S. troops in Tuzla, Bosnia, the 68-year-old Perry seemed to show signs of wear. At the news conference in Sarajevo a reporter asked Perry why he didn’t order NATO forces to arrest Radovan Karadzic, the Bosnian Serb leader who is an indicted war criminal. The questioner said it was "a charade" not to grab Karadzic since his whereabouts and daily movements are common knowledge in the area.
"I am getting a little sick of hearing those comments," Perry snapped. In an exceedingly rare display of emotion, he said NATO’s critics have been wrong since the start of the Bosnian peace mission last year when many predicted the peacekeepers would get into a shooting war and later, when that didn’t happen, that the warring parties would resume fighting once spring arrived. "We have brought peace to Bosnia," Perry said. "Don’t let anyone forget that."
At the news conference, Izetbegovic said he and Perry had discussed removing Karadzic from power, as required by the Dayton peace accords. The president did not elaborate but told reporters his government believes Karadzic is "blocking and endangering the whole peace process."
Perry later flew on an Air Force MC-130 plane to Mostar, where the French-led peacekeeping force that is patrolling southeastern Bosnia makes its headquarters. He got an update on the situation in the Croat-controlled area, including an assessment of the elections held in Mostar earlier this week. "The southeast sector is certainly one of the most critical areas in all of Bosnia, critical to the success" of the NATO-led peacekeeping mission, Perry told reporters.
Afterward, Perry flew to Ljubljana in neighboring Slovenia to meet with top government officials and spend the night before flying back into Bosnia on Independence Day to see first the Russian contingent of peacekeepers and then to visit with American troops. This is Perry’s third trip to Bosnia this year. |
Berserkistan, July 3 · In Sarajevo, Perry Hopes to Accelerate US Arms Deal
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