Sporadic gunfire and mortar attacks rattled Sarajevo Monday in the early hours of a cease-fire between the Bosnian government and rival Serb forces.
Despite the occasional shooting, people crowded the streets in a heavy rain hoping to replenish food supplies depleted during a 21/2-month-old blockade by Serb irregulars in the hills around Sarajevo. Huddled under umbrellas, shoppers bargained with vendors who had only onions, dandelions and nettles.Meanwhile, Dobrica Cosic, a 70-year-old author and former communist press censor who rose to become a leading champion of neo-Serbian nationalism, was elected president Monday of the new Yugoslav union of Serbia and Montenegro.
Cosic was the sole candidate for the largely ceremonial post of head of state of the two-republic federation.
In Brussels, Belgium, the European Community failed again Monday to accept Macedonia as an independent state because of Greece's concerns that the former Yugoslav republic might harbor territorial designs on northern Greece. Macedonia's leaders deny they claim any Greek lands.
The trade bloc has recognized the independence of Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia, where about 15,000 people have died in fighting over the last year.
Sarajevo's main street bustled with activity after the truce took effect this morning between Serb militants and troops loyal to Bosnia's government, which is dominated by Muslims and Croats.
After spending a week in shelters during heavy fighting, residents flinched at occasional explosions and bursts of gunfire, Associated Press photographer Santiago Lyon said.
More than a dozen previous truce accords have failed to last.
The Bosnian BH news agency said 12 grenades landed in the downtown area during the morning. Bosnian government forces also repelled an infantry assault from Serb-held positions in a suburban area, it said.
The report said Bosnian Defense Minister Jerko Doko protested the attacks to U.N. peacekeepers in Sarajevo.