BOSNIAN SERBS STALL, AS EVIDENCE BUILDS OF NEW VIOLATIONS

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Bosnian Serb leaders say they may call for a referendum on a proposed peace strategy, but the move is just another rejection of the Western-sponsored plan. "It's a way of shirking responsibility," says TIME's Central Europe Bureau Chief James Graff. "The people are sure to reject the plan because that's the message they are getting from their government." More critical is the next step taken by Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic. He has criticized the Bosnian Serbs for dismissing the latest peace plan. Milosevic has a lot to gain by ending the conflict and pushing the United Nations to lift sanctions crippling the Serbian economy, says Graff.Can Milosevic be trusted? According to TIME's Graff, Western military sources in Central Bosnia claim to have evidence of substantial numbers of regular troops from Serbia operating in Bosnia -- something that was supposed to have stopped over two years ago. The report, if true, would embarrass all parties: Milosevic and the Serbs would be exposed as hypocrites, and the U.N., which was ordered to stop such incursions, would once again appear ineffective.