MEDIATORS SLIGHTED

So why did Karadzic bring Carter into the conflict? Based on the agreements Carter worked out with North Korea and Haiti, "Karadzic knows he can get a good deal. Both the earlier deals were much softer than what the United Nations had planned," TIME U.N. correspondent Bonnie Angelo says. But the entry of Carter into the Bosnian conflict has thrown mediators -- working for months to resolve the conflict -- for a loop. NATO Secretary-General Willy Claes quickly expressed outrage, but it's the U.N. that has received the biggest slight in the effort, Angelo says. U.N. officials tell Angelo that Yasushi Akashi, U.N. chief of Yugoslavian activities, had met with Karadzic just the night before he made his offer public and "Karadzic didn't say anything to him even though there was communication with Carter at that point," Angelo says. "Akashi just felt insulted." Officially, U.N. officials are sticking with the NATO line and expressing skepticism that Karadzic will keep his word.