Serbs Turn Back Relief Convoy

The U.N. refugee agency jumped at an offer from Bosnian Serbs to get vitally needed relief supplies to Sarajevo, but Serbs turned back the quickly arranged convoy Thursday, an official said.

Undaunted, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees will double the convoy to 20 trailer trucks and try again today, said spokesman Ron Redmond.

The on-again, off-again treatment was the latest obstacle in a series that has “virtually hamstrung” international relief efforts as more people are forced to flee and aid is blocked, according to Sadako Ogata, the head of the agency.

“The humanitarian consequences of the upsurge in violence have been appalling,” Ogata told a meeting of international agencies and donor countries.