Serb rebels canceled talks Saturday on giving up the last scrap of Croatian land they hold, increasing the chances of new fighting in the region and complicating Bosnian peace negotiations.
U.N. spokesman Yuri Chizik said he could not say whether the talks would be rescheduled before Wednesday, when the rival factions in the Yugoslav wars meet outside Dayton, Ohio, for peace talks.There was no Serb explanation for the cancellation.
Although the U.S. negotiations are primarily intended to settle the Bosnian war, renewed friction over eastern Slavonia - the last segment of Croatia still held by the rebel Serbs - is bound to burden the talks.
President Franjo Tudjman of Croatia has made made clear that he is ready to go to war over eastern Slavonia, lost to ethnic Serbs during the country's 1991 civil war. A Croatian offensive could provoke a wider war by drawing in the Yugoslav army. Serbia, the dominant republic in Yugoslavia, borders the rebel-held land.
Serb sources said a column of Yugoslav army tanks was moving toward the border near eastern Slavonia on Saturday.
The Serbs have agreed in principle to relinquish control of the territory but want at least three years transition, while the Croats insist it be no longer than 12 months. The Croats also want a rapid agreement, whereas the Serbs say more time is needed.
Croatian officials have said they want an agreement by Nov. 30, the date the U.N. mandate in Croatia expires.
A Serbian-Croatian war would scuttle the U.S.-brokered peace talks and could reignite the Bosnian war.