SARAJEVO, Oct. 9 -- The Bosnian government said Monday a cease- fire would not come into effect as initially planned at one minute past midnight because a key condition had not been met -- the resumption of gas and electric services in Sarajevo. Earlier in the day, NATO planes flying a mission to defend U.N. troops fired at a Bosnian Serb artillery command post. While the two developments did not appear directly related and the cease-fire could start at a later date, the incidents underlined the fragility of the situation in the war-torn country. Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic said on national television in the early evening that the cease-fire would not start as planned at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday (2301 GMT/7:01 p.m. EDT Monday) because utilities had yet to be restored to the capital. 'Tonight, we have no electricity. Sarajevo has no natural gas,' Izetbegovic said. 'The route from Sarajevo to Gorazde is not open,' he added. Another condition of the cease-fire agreement reached last week is the reopening of a route between the capital and the town of Gorazde in eastern Bosnia-Herzegovina. 'Everything is late,' said Bosnian government negotiator Hasan Muratovic. 'The gas isn't turned on and electricity isn't restored and that means we will not implement the cease-fire.' According to the terms of the U.S.-brokered agreement for the cease- fire, if it fails to begin at the appointed time it will take effect on the day after utilities are resumed. 'We will obey the letter of the document and lay down our arms only the day after such restoration is made,' Muratovic said.
In Washington, White House press secretary Mike McCurry indicated that despite the setbacks, the administration remained optimistic that a cease-fire would begin. 'We are encouraged by some signs of progress. We want the cease-fire implemented. Some things have fallen into place,' McCurry said. 'We recognize cease-fires in Bosnia are always difficult,' he said. 'We believe the parties were acting in good faith when they made the agreement.' In his remarks, Izetbegovic also said he wanted more retaliation for attacks Sunday on the Tuzla area in northeastern Bosnia. 'We are demanding that the U.N. and NATO continue to take action against the Serb terrorists. If these acts are not punished, we can not expect a stabilized peace to take place,' the president said. In Moscow, the Interfax news agency quoted a Foreign Ministry official as blaming Russian gas giant Gazprom for failing to order the resumption of gas supplies to Bosnia despite pledges from top Russian leaders the gas would flow again after supplies were cut earlier because of non-payment. Also Monday, NATO planes opened fire on a Bosnian Serb target, following two days of Serb shelling. U.N. commanders in Sarajevo called for the close air support to protect peacekeepers following two days of Serb attacks on a refugee camp and a U.N. post in the area, which left at least 11 civilians and a peacekeeper dead. In Washington, Pentagon officials said the allied attack on a Bosnian Serb command and control bunker near Tuzla was successful. During the assault six U.S. F-16 Fighting Falcons dropped 10 laser-guided bombs and fired four rockets at the target, they said. 'The initial bomb damage assessment is that the bunker was destroyed' in the assault, a Pentagon spokesman said. A U.S. Navy S-3 Viking anti-submarine warfare plane provided direct support for the assault, which ended at about 6 p.m. local time, the Pentagon said. 'The strike followed Bosnian Serb targeting of the Tuzla airport, which is a main U.N. base. One shell impacted so close that one Norwegian peacekeeper was killed by shrapnel,' said U.N. military spokesman Chris Vernon. Later Monday, NATO warplanes continued to fly combat air patrol following what officials of the military alliance said were Bosnian Serb violations of the NATO-enforced 'no-fly' zone over Bosnia-Herzegovina. Bosnian Serb planes have been sporadically dropping cluster bombs in the area, according to U.N. and NATO officials. On Sunday, a cluster bomb left at least 10 people dead and 34 others wounded at the Zivinice refugee camp, about 6 miles (10 km) from Tuzla. Most of the casualties were women and children. A civilian was killed and six others wounded in another attack Sunday near the U.N.-run Tuzla air base, and Serbs reportedly attacked the village of Tesanjka in north-central Bosnia. For nearly three hours Sunday afternoon, NATO aircraft circled the Tuzla area, but returned to base without identifying suitable targets under a moderate cloud cover. Before the NATO planes opened fire Monday, U.N. spokeswoman Myriam Sochacki had warned the Serbs 'to exercise maximum restraint and not to further test the resolve of the United Nations and NATO to respond.' 'These attacks appear to be harassing attacks aimed at striking panic and insecurity into the civilian population,' Sochacki said. Meanwhile, last-minute land grabs on the battlefield continued Monday, with most of the activity centered in the Doboj and Maglaj regions, north of Sarajevo, according to U.N. officials. Intense fighting continued near the town of Bosanska Krupa in northwestern Bosnia. In another development, U.N. aid workers have revealed that the Serbs were carrying out another round of mass expulsions in north-central Bosnia. 'Over the past four to five days 3,500 people have left Banja Luka, Prijedor, Sanski Most and Bosanski Novi. These are extremely brutal expulsions, with reports that men being separated from the women and children in Bosanski Novi and Prijedor,' said spokesman Kris Janowski of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. 'The men have not been heard of since nor do we know where they have been taken,' Janowski said. He said that many people were reported to have been massacred by troops loyal to a notorious Serb warlord known as Arkan. 'Refugees say that many people were killed outright by Arkan troops, ' he said. 'They were expelled in a fairly appalling way, forced to cross a river on foot, some apparently drowned and others died of exhaustion.'
'Theinitial bomb damage assessment is that the bunker was destroyed' in the assault, a Pentagon spokesman said. A U.S. Navy S-3 Viking anti-submarine warfare plane provided direct support for the assault, which ended at about 6 p.m. local time, the Pentagon said. 'The strike followed Bosnian Serb targeting of the Tuzla airport, which is a main U.N. base. One shell impacted so close that one Norwegian peacekeeper was killed by shrapnel,' said U.N. military spokesman Chris Vernon. Later Monday, NATO warplanes continued to fly combat air patrol following what officials of the military alliance said were Bosnian Serb violations of the NATO-enforced 'no-fly' zone over Bosnia-Herzegovina. Bosnian Serb planes have been sporadically dropping cluster bombs in the area, according to U.N. and NATO officials. On Sunday, a cluster bomb left at least 10 people dead and 34 others wounded at the Zivinice refugee camp, about 6 miles (10 km) from Tuzla. Most of the casualties were women and children. A civilian was killed and six others wounded in another attack Sunday near the U.N.-run Tuzla air base, and Serbs reportedly attacked the village of Tesanjka in north-central Bosnia. For nearly three hours Sunday afternoon, NATO aircraft circled the Tuzla area, but returned to base without identifying suitable targets under a moderate cloud cover. Before the NATO planes opened fire Monday, U.N. spokeswoman Myriam Sochacki had warned the Serbs 'to exercise maximum restraint and not to further test the resolve of the United Nations and NATO to respond.' 'These attacks appear to be harassing attacks aimed at striking panic and insecurity into the civilian population,' Sochacki said. Meanwhile, last-minute land grabs on the battlefield continued Monday, with most of the activity centered in the Doboj and Maglaj regions, north of Sarajevo, according to U.N. officials. Intense fighting continued near the town of Bosanska Krupa in northwestern Bosnia. In another development, U.N. aid workers have revealed that the Serbs were carrying out another round of mass expulsions in north-central Bosnia. 'Over the past four to five days 3,500 people have left Banja Luka, Prijedor, Sanski Most and Bosanski Novi. These are extremely brutal expulsions, with reports that men being separated from the women and children in Bosanski Novi and Prijedor,' said spokesman Kris Janowski of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. 'The men have not been heard of since nor do we know where they have been taken,' Janowski said. He said that many people were reported to have been massacred by troops loyal to a notorious Serb warlord known as Arkan. 'Refugees say that many people were killed outright by Arkan troops, ' he said. 'They were expelled in a fairly appalling way, forced to cross a river on foot, some apparently drowned and others died of exhaustion.'
