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- THE WEEK, Page 16WORLDCan Bosnia Be Fixed With a Hammer?
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- Military force may be used. But how -- and how much -- is
- undecided.
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- Although the U.N. Security Council has approved the use of
- force to protect aid shipments to Bosnia-Herzegovina, no one has
- yet figured out precisely how to do it. U.N. forces in Sarajevo
- are caught in the middle -- a Ukrainian soldier was killed by a
- sniper last week -- and the major powers are reluctant to let
- their troops get involved.
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- When a British Hercules transport plane heading away from
- Sarajevo was tracked by ground-based radar, U.N. peacekeepers
- on the ground responded by closing the airport. It reopened two
- days later but closed briefly on Saturday after mortar fire hit
- the U.N. headquarters.
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- Bosnian and Serb leaders also signed an agreement to place
- the artillery of both sides under U.N. supervision to pinpoint
- who is responsible for shelling civilian areas. General Satish
- Nambiar of India, who was heading the U.N. forces, publicly
- doubted that his 1,500-man contingent was large enough to
- monitor the long-range weapons. In any case, the agreement did
- not take effect, and Sarajevo continued to suffer nighttime
- bombardment from the surrounding hills.
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- In Brussels the NATO allies are still debating their role
- in case force must be used to deliver aid to Bosnia. NATO
- military experts had proposed using 100,000 troops to guard a
- land corridor from Split to Sarajevo, but that idea was rejected
- two weeks ago. France, Britain and Italy have said they are
- ready to contribute forces of around 2,000 soldiers each, and
- NATO is now considering using a total of 10,000 troops, not to
- hold open a corridor but to convoy road shipments to Sarajevo.
- The U.S. says it is willing to contribute air units but no
- ground forces.
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