BRUSSELS, Belgium - With Western powers threatening tougher action against him, Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic is offering a cease-fire, enlisting former president Jimmy Carter to mediate.
Carter said on CNN that he informed the White House of his "good faith gesture," and that President Clinton "approved my going ahead with it."
While the Clinton administration said Wednesday that it welcomed the development, it also issued a statement saying it was skeptical of a new Serb peace plan. The White House also said if Carter travels to Bosnia to talk peace, he will do so as a private citizen.
Carter added he would make the trip only if Karadzic lived up to a series of promises in the next 24 hours, including:
-- Cease Serb attacks on government and U.N. positions in Bosnia-Herzegovina, torn by civil war.
-- Release U.N. peacekeepers who are virtual prisoners to Serb forces in the former Yugoslav republic.
-- Allow free travel of U.N. convoys.
-- Allow Sarajevo airport to re-open.
-- Abide by human rights laws.
The moves by Karadzic came, typically, after allies talked tough on Bosnia.
At a NATO meeting here, defense ministers ordered their commanders to find ways to bolster the U.N. peacekeeping force in Bosnia, in hopes of avoiding what could prove a bloody withdrawal.
Says Robert Hunter, U.S. ambassador to NATO: "Until last week, discussion at NATO was dominated by the thought: How do we get out?" Now, it is, "How do we help (the United Nations) stay."
The international effort is another attempt at bridging the clumsy divide between the United Nations, which has peacekeepers in Bosnia, and the NATO alliance, which enforces the arms embargo and provides air support.
Recent Bosnian Serb attacks on the peacekeepers are forcing the two institutions to confront the fruits of their lack of cooperation: that the conflict could become impossible to control.
It could mean a wider war with civilian casualties and a permanent black eye for international peacemaking.
Clinton has committed up to 25,000 U.S. troops to aid in the withdrawal. At least three other nations who don't have ground troops in Bosnia now - Germany, Greece and Portugal - have also pledged support.
NATO officials were briefed by military commanders Wednesday on those contingency plans, including the need to pre-position some troops and equipment to speed a possible evacuation.
Meanwhile, top officers from the U.S. and NATO nations with troops already in the Bosnia war zone were ordered to meet Monday to draw up a plan to keep the U.N. force there.
Non-NATO nations, including Russia, may also participate in the two-day conference at The Hague, Netherlands. The United States will be represented by Gen. John Shalikashvili, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
As for current efforts to bolster forces, there's little chance the U.N. force of 23,000 would be increased in either troops or firepower. And no ground role for NATO is envisioned. Instead, the United States is backing a French proposal to revamp peacekeeping to:
-- Consolidate U.N. forces into larger groups, which would be less vulnerable to attack. The Bosnian Serbs have routinely taken U.N. troops hostage.
-- Better secure the Sarajevo airport.
-- Establish a safe land supply route for relief convoys.
Each of those objectives would also be useful if a withdrawal from Bosnia became necessary, says Volker Ruhe, the German defense minister.
