President Alija Izetbegovic and other members of Bosnia's collective leadership agreed Tuesday to work jointly on a response to a Serb-Croat plan to partition the republic into ethnic zones.
The decision blunted growing confrontation between Izetbegovic and other members of the 10-person, multi-ethnic presidency over the Serb-Croat plan. But the meeting did not appear to reach agreement on a common position.An official statement said only that further discussions of the full presidency would be held somewhere in Bosnia. It said Ejup Ganic, an Izetbegovic ally in the collective body, would be among the three presidency members working on a joint stance.
The meeting at Sarajevo airport brought Izetbegovic and Ganic together with the seven presidency members who attended Geneva talks on the partitioning proposal.
Izetbegovic and Ganic refused to go to Geneva. The two, both Muslims, fear the Serb-Croat plan will ultimately end Bosnia's existence, first by splitting it into three parts and then by permitting Bosnian Serbs and Croats to annex their territories to neighboring Serbia and Croatia.
The presidency members who attended the Geneva talks apparently hoped to prod Izetbegovic into bargaining over the Serb-Croat proposal. Izetbegovic is chairman of the presidency but is facing growing challenges to his authority.
The divisions were clear as the meeting began. Izetbegovic's group sat on one side of the room, most of the rest of the presidency was on the other.
The 10th member is Rasim Delic, a Muslim who is commander of Bosnian government troops. He has been too busy to get involved in peace negotiations but is thought to be loyal to Izetbegovic.