U.N. Officials Rules Out Use Of Force Against Serbs

With scores of peacekeepers still detained and NATO airstrikes on the back burner, U.N. officials made clear Saturday they won’t use force against Bosnian Serbs attacking civilians or blocking aid.

The admission came amid new hopes that the remaining 146 U.N. hostages could be freed in the near future.

Aleksa Buha, the self-described foreign minister in the Bosnian Serb leadership in Pale, east of Sarajevo, told The Associated Press their release might be expected soon.

“We have to resolve some technicalities about the transport,” Buha said. He did not elaborate or give a possible date.

Meanwhile, U.N. officials virtually ruled out force to feed civilians or defend heavy-weapons collection points against Serbs.

On the possibility of future NATO airstrikes, U.N. spokesman Alexander Ivanko said, “It’s still an option, although … not an extremely likely one.”

The Serbs’ refusal to reopen Sarajevo airport for aid flights, violations of Sarajevo’s weapons-free zone and a series of direct attacks on peacekeepers had prompted NATO airstrikes on Serb ammunition depots on May 25-26.

But they retaliated by taking hundreds of peacekeepers hostage, chaining some up for days. More than 200 peacekeepers have been freed, but 146 remain held.

Fighting was reported in the northwest and northeast Saturday. Bosnian radio reported a U.N. soldier was wounded in the northwestern town of Bihac when a Serb shell hit a base housing the Bangladeshi battalion. There was no confirmation from the U.N. force.