Croatia Leader’s Threat Taints Truce

Just hours into a truce with rebel Serbs, Croatia’s president warned Saturday that he was willing to send his troops back to war to regain the last scrap of Serb-held land.

“I would like it to happen by peaceful means,” Franjo Tudjman said. “But if that proves impossible, there would be … new tombs.”

The land, known as eastern Slavonia, lies along the border with Serbia, and is the only remaining Serb holding in Croatia after this month’s stunning government offensive.

The two sides signed a truce for the region Friday, and it went into effect at noon Saturday. It was meant to end skirmishes and reduce tensions that have persisted since Croatia recaptured most of the land the Serb rebels had taken in 1991.

U.N. officials said the truce appeared to be holding.