Bosnian Serbs Monday offered a four-month cease-fire after daylong talks with former president Jimmy Carter - but only if Bosnian Muslims agree.
But the proposal, coming after a nine-hour meeting between Carter and Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, remained murky today over different interpretations of when any cease-fire would begin.
Carter said it would be immediate, but Karadzic said Serbs could not "stop our activities" until the Bosnian government also agreed to a cease-fire.
Late Monday night, Bosnian Vice President Ejup Ganic said he saw room for a cease-fire.
He and other Bosnian leaders meet with Carter today to discuss cease-fire details.
Karadzic did publicly promise to resume talks over an international peace proposal that Serbs already have rejected.
"President Carter came here to bring us back to the table and he did," Karadzic said. "We accepted something we never thought we would accept."
Previously, Serbs had insisted on a permanent cease-fire.
But the Bosnian government wanted only a three-month cease-fire, fearing that anything longer would cement Serb ground gains achieved since war broke out in April 1992.
Carter, Karadzic and Serb military commander Gen. Ratko Mladic also signed a statement calling for:
-- Freedom of movement to U.N. peacekeepers.
-- Talks that would end all fighting in the 32-month war.
-- Geographic separation of troops, with U.N. peacekeepers between combatants.
-- Exchange of prisoners.
But a cease-fire is only a temporary fix. The key to any long-range solution is signing the peace plan, which gives Serbs 49% of Bosnia, down from the 72% they now hold.
Muslims and Croats accepted the plan last summer, but the Serbs have twice refused.
The agreement came hours after Carter, on a free-lance peace effort, praised Serbs for their "commitment to a peace agreement" and said their cause was misunderstood.
"It may be that today is one of the rare chances to let the world know the truth and explain the commitment of the Serbs to peace," Carter said.
When Karadzic denied the Bosnian Serbs were guilty of aggression, Carter said, "I can't dispute your statement that (Americans) have primarily heard one side of the story."
Carter's embracing of the Serb position set off a furious reaction elsewhere.
"The Bosnian Serbs are the aggressors in this war," White House spokeswoman Dee Dee Myers said. "The American people have had two years to see what's happening on the ground there and to see both sides of the story." Meanwhile:
-- Serb gunners in the northwest peppered the U.N. "safe area" of Bihac with tank and artillery rounds.
-- NATO officials begin a second round of talks today on ways to strengthen the 23,000-strong U.N. force in Bosnia.
