Muslim-Croat fighting appeared to subside Friday after Croatia's president accepted a U.S.-backed plan to end Bosnia's war, but tensions remained high at the start of a cease-fire.
An hour after the noon deadline, Bosnian Croat spokesman Veso Vegar said the truce was holding in the southwestern city of Mostar, the scene of heavy recent Croat-Muslim fighting."The cease-fire is being respected. . . . It is quiet and there's no shooting in Mostar," Vegar told The Associated Press by telephone.
Another spokesman for Bosnian Croats, Tiho Begic, said front lines were fairly quiet except for unspecified infantry and mortar "provocations."
The truce, covering central Bosnia and Mostar, was signed Wednesday by the Bosnian Croat and Muslim-led government military commanders.
Previous cease-fires have failed, but a new U.S.-led diplomatic push appeared to bolster the latest truce. The international community also has been seeking to turn a truce in Sarajevo into a lasting peace for Bosnia.
A Muslim-Croat truce would add pressure on Bosnia's Serbs, considered the main aggressors in the war, to end the conflict.
Under the new plan, the Muslims and Croats would form a federation, while Bosnian Serbs - who have long sought to unite with Serbia - would be free to form their own.