Sarajevo Bosnia Herzegovina Military Confrontations

U.S. officials now expect NATO to achieve at least ragged compliance with its demand for withdrawal of the Bosnian Serb howitzers and other heavy weapons that have rained random death on Sarajevo for almost two years. And respite for Bosnia's battered capital is likely to be accomplished without an immediate need for allied air strikes. But the unsteady cease-fire in the snow-encrusted mountains above Sarajevo is not expected to last more than two or three months at best.

Serbs and Muslims gave Sarajevo hope Thursday for an end to the city's crippling 23-month siege: a breakthrough agreement to partly open a road to the outside world. The U.N.-brokered agreement, which also links divided sectors of the capital to civilian traffic, is the latest sign that the Bosnian war is winding down. Still, officials on both sides warned the city was far from free or united, and some residents expressed skepticism after nearly two years of bloodletting among neighbors.

Russia removed the last legal obstacle Thursday to the calling of air strikes in Bosnia-Herzegovina by U.N. Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali when it dropped its insistence that he seek new Security Council approval before he acts. Russian Ambassador Yuli Vorontsov told reporters before he met with other ambassadors of the Security Council that his government was not trying to prevent North Atlantic Treaty Organization planes from bombing Bosnian Serb positions.

U.S. officials now expect NATO to achieve at least ragged compliance with its demand for withdrawal of the Bosnian Serb howitzers and other heavy weapons that have rained random death on Sarajevo for almost two years. And respite for Bosnia's battered capital is likely to be accomplished without an immediate need for allied air strikes. But the unsteady cease-fire in the snow-encrusted mountains above Sarajevo is not expected to last more than two or three months at best.

The U.N.-negotiated cease-fire between Bosnian Serb and Muslim factions in Sarajevo went into effect as scheduled Thursday, but the truce was shattered briefly just before midnight when two artillery shells crashed into the city, accompanied by a barrage of machine-gun fire. U.S. and U.N.

Bosnian Serb forces Thursday began what U.N. observers called a massive withdrawal from mountaintop artillery nests ringing Sarajevo, offering the first serious sign that they may comply with a NATO ultimatum to end their siege or face air strikes. U.N. officials reported large weapons convoys moving away from the Bosnian capital, an apparent effort by the Serbian rebels to comply with a week-old NATO order to withdraw or surrender all heavy weapons within a 12-mile radius of the capital by 1 a.

Serbs and Muslims gave Sarajevo hope Thursday for an end to the city's crippling 23-month siege: a breakthrough agreement to partly open a road to the outside world. The U.N.-brokered agreement, which also links divided sectors of the capital to civilian traffic, is the latest sign that the Bosnian war is winding down. Still, officials on both sides warned the city was far from free or united, and some residents expressed skepticism after nearly two years of bloodletting among neighbors.

Bosnian Serb forces Thursday began what U.N. observers called a massive withdrawal from mountaintop artillery nests ringing Sarajevo, offering the first serious sign that they may comply with a NATO ultimatum to end their siege or face air strikes. U.N. officials reported large weapons convoys moving away from the Bosnian capital, an apparent effort by the Serbian rebels to comply with a week-old NATO order to withdraw or surrender all heavy weapons within a 12-mile radius of the capital by 1 a.

Russia removed the last legal obstacle Thursday to the calling of air strikes in Bosnia-Herzegovina by U.N. Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali when it dropped its insistence that he seek new Security Council approval before he acts. Russian Ambassador Yuli Vorontsov told reporters before he met with other ambassadors of the Security Council that his government was not trying to prevent North Atlantic Treaty Organization planes from bombing Bosnian Serb positions.

The U.N.-negotiated cease-fire between Bosnian Serb and Muslim factions in Sarajevo went into effect as scheduled Thursday, but the truce was shattered briefly just before midnight when two artillery shells crashed into the city, accompanied by a barrage of machine-gun fire. U.S. and U.N.