A Christmas and New Year's cease-fire was announced Friday between Bosnian government forces and rival Croat troops, promising a respite from bitter fighting for thousands of beleaguered Bosnians.
Rasim Delic, commander of Bosnia's government forces, and Ante Roso, commander of Bosnian Croat troops, agreed to stop fighting from midnight Thursday until midnight Jan. 3, Croatian TV reported Friday.The commander of the Bosnian Serb forces, Gen. Ratko Mladic, said he also would respect the truce "as long as he was not attacked," the U.N. spokesman, Cmdr. Idesbald van Biesebroeck, said in Sarajevo.
The cease-fire agreement coincided with new talks to try to end the war. Bosnian Prime Minister Haris Silajdzic arrived in Vienna, Austria, for discussions with mediators Lord Owen of the European Community and U.N. special envoy Thorvald Stoltenberg.
After two hours of talks, the three men left without disclosing details.
Silajdzic said simply, "Let's hope it helps."
Willy Claes, president of the European Council and Hans van den Broek, the council's foreign affairs representative, suggested the talks centered on territorial demands the Muslims must meet before signing a settlement that essentially dismembers Bosnia.
Diplomats characterized the talks as part of continuing efforts to get Bosnia's three warring sides to compromise on a peace plan.
Fighting in Bosnia broke out in April 1992 after the republic's Muslims and Croats, together a majority, voted for independence from Yugoslavia. About 200,000 people are believed to have been killed, and numerous cease-fires have been broken in the past.
A new round of Bosnian peace talks is to start in Geneva on Tuesday, with participants going a day later to the EC in Brussels.
The EC-inspired talks aim to secure more land for Bosnia's Muslim-led government in exchange for a promise to lift world sanctions against Serb-dominated Yugoslavia.