Shell Hits Sarajevo, Injuring 7 Mediators Ditch Plans To Visit; Sides Prepare For More Fighting

Sarajevans got a bleak reminder of war’s worst days Wednesday when a mortar shell slammed into a crowded city street, wounding seven people.

An Italian journalist, Maurizio Cucci, later was slightly wounded when his minibus came under fire as he drove on an exposed section of the road to the city’s airport. The airport remained closed for a fifth day after 10 shots hit a U.S. plane flying for the United Nations.

International mediators scrapped a visit to Sarajevo because Bosnian Serb rebels failed to guarantee safety for their plane, and gave no sign their talks in neighboring Croatia and Yugoslavia had yielded any hope war would end soon.

Battle fronts across Bosnia were tense, and both the Muslim-led government army and Bosnian Serb rebels are preparing for more fighting, according to U.N. officials.

“There was no real truce and there is still no political solution, so we can expect more fighting,” Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic said.

Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, who two weeks ago appeared to considering the idea of recognizing Bosnia, was unexpectedly negative when he met mediators Tuesday in Belgrade, diplomats said. Milosevic is considered key to peace in the Balkans. Although mediators from the United States, Russia, Germany, France and Britain made no headway with Milosevic, the senior U.N. official in former Yugoslavia, Yasushi Akashi, plans to visit Sarajevo and Bosnian Serb leaders next week.