U.N. Peacekeepers Stuck In Aid Dispute

The U.N. commander for Bosnia failed Wednesday to solve a dispute with the Bosnian government that has left nearly 1,000 U.N. peacekeepers short of food and heat in bitter mid-winter.

Lt. Gen. Sir Michael Rose returned empty-handed from a trip to Tuzla in north-central Bosnia, where the United Nations has tried for a year to persuade the Serbs to allow aid flights to a nearby airport.

Government troops have been blockading 450 U.N. soldiers at the airfield and nearly 600 others in the region for eight days. U.N. officials angered the government by allowing a Serb liaison officer onto the airfield Jan. 8 as a guarantee against its military use.

The Serbs have continued to bar aid flights, prompting the government on Monday to give the United Nations until Feb. 1 to open Tuzla airport or withdraw.