LONDON, July 24 -- The Islamic Bosnia Contact Group's decision to defy the United Nations and supply arms to Bosnia has set a new agenda for the West, in particular European governments involved in peace-keeping roles in embattled former Yugoslavia, diplomats said Monday. 'This may lead Western states to withdraw completely from the area, which would be very foolish,' Michael Williams, a senior analyst with the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies told United Press International. A British Foreign Office spokesman said Britain still wanted the United Nations arms embargo on Bosnia preserved. He warned a lifting of the embargo would lead to a pullout by the U.N. peacekeeping force, which includes troops from Britain. Western diplomats who requested anonymity said the Geneva meeting of the Bosnia Contact Group of the 52-member Organization of Islamic Conference, OIC, on Friday appeared to have the blessing of the Western opponents of the embargo, including the U.S. administration. The Islamic Contact Group includes Egypt, Iran, Malaysia, Morocco, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Senegal and Turkey, as well as the OIC Secretary-General. Foreign ministers and senior officials from the Contact Group declared the arms embargo void and announced they would ignore it in defiance of U.N. resolutions in force since 1992. Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati said in remarks published Monday military commanders and defense ministers from the group would meet soon to discuss ways of helping Bosnia. Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed, quoted by The Sunday Times newspaper in Kuala Lumpur, said Malaysia would increase weapons deliveries to its 1,500 U.N. peacekeepers in Bosnia.
Diplomats said they were not surprised by these developments. 'The West has been locked into its own logic so much that it has ignored the concerns of the Muslim countries and the Third World countries at large, ' said Williams. Diplomats said the Contact Group's declaration reflected the Islamic world's frustration over Western inaction following the fall of Srebrenica and Bosnian Serb attacks on other 'safe areas.' But, they added, the Islamic group's position for the first time appeared to be drawing support from Croatia, which fears further Serbian successes would endanger its security. Strategic talks last week between Turkish President Suleyman Demirel and his Bosnian counterpart Alija Izetbegovic were followed by a summit between the Bosnian leader and Croatian President Franjo Tudjman. Izetbegovic and Tudjman signed protocols on military cooperation. Military analysts said the talks were significant because Bosnia could hope to receive heavy arms only through Croatian routes. 'There have been some arms deliveries through Tuzla airport, but this route cannot be used for shipping heavy armor and artillery that Bosnia desperately wants,' said one analyst. Diplomats said Iran, Malaysia, Pakistan and Turkey were already supplying arms to Bosnia with full knowledge of Western governments. 'But an open flouting of the embargo is worrying because it will give Western governments an excuse to withdraw,' said Williams. At the same time, the diplomats said, the Islamic governments' defiance of the embargo would likely open the way for freer and greater Russian arms shipments to the Serbs. Further complications could be expected, they added, because several Muslim countries have peacekeeping troops in former Yugoslavia, though not yet directly in confrontation with Bosnian Serbs. These include Bangladesh, Egypt, Malaysia and Turkey. 'Western governments already face Muslim suspicions because of their policies,' said one analyst. 'Their job has been made more difficult by the Geneva outcome.' Mahathir Mohamed said he considered Western governments 'liars' for pledging and then failing to take military action against the Serbs. The United Arab Emirates Monday called on Russia to bear its international responsibilities by stopping the Bosnian Serb 'aggression against the children, women and elderly' of Bosnia, the Emirates news agency WAM said. The call followed a meeting between UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed al-Nahyan and Russian Ambassador Oleg Derkovsky, WAM said.
