THE NEXT BEIRUT?

With Bosnian Serbs demonstrating in the streets of Sarajevo, their leader, Radovan Karadzic, issued an ominous warning on Sunday. "The Dayton agreement has created a new Beirut in Europe," Karadzic told the BBC, speaking of the city that the Dayton accord would unify under Bosnian Muslim control. "It is going to be very bad, maybe the worst place in Europe." Karadzic, who is under indictment by the International War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague, stopped short of threatening military action. But his beligerence seemed to undercut an apparent agreement to support the Dayton accord that Serb President Slobodan Milosevic hammered out on Friday. TIME's Alexandra Niksic reports from Belgrade that the Bosnian Serb military leader, General Ratko Mladic, who has not been seen since the Dayton accord was initialed, allegedly sent a cable to troops in Serb-held areas of Sarajevo vowing that his army would never leave the territory. Though these are troubling signs, says Niksic, "the official Serbian press has not mentioned Karadzic's interview and most of the experts here think that this tough talk is a show put on for their people." While senior members of the Bosnian Serb government are expected to issue a statement supporting the Dayton accord, Karadzic, says Niksic, "is sitting in his office in military uniform giving interviews. Today he told a French newspaper that 'there would be carnage' if NATO troops came to Bosnian Serb territory."