Stymied Again

Ethnic Serbian crowds near the Bosnian town of Zvornik, 70 miles northeast of Sarajevo, block — and eventually turn back — a rescue convoy carrying the U.N. commander, General Philippe Morillon. The military procession was headed for the surrounded enclave of Srebrenica, where 15,000 Muslims await evacuation, thus far in vain. Despite a World Court ruling in Bosnia’s favor against alleged aggression, and the debut slated this week of NATO warplanes to enforce what so far has been a meaningless ban on military flights above Bosnian territory, there remains scant international consensus to punish Serbia for refusing to recognize a peace plan in its neighbor’s year-old civil war. One increasingly vocal holdout at the U.N.: Russia, which historically has maintained close ties to Serbia.