ROME - A US arbiter ruled yesterday that the volatile Bosnian town of Brcko, claimed by both Serbs and the Muslim Croat federation, would be put under international supervision pending a final decision next year on its status.
The West's chief representative, Mr Carl Bildt, said the ruling sought to strike a balance in "the mother of all difficulties in the Bosnian peace process". The US envoy, Mr John Kornblum, welcomed it as "definitely enough" to avert the threat of renewed war.
Mr Robert Owen, chairman of a three member arbitration panel deciding the town's fate, told a news conference in Rome: "We want international supervision for Brcko for not less than one year to allow for a reduction of tensions."He said Brcko could eventually become a special district of Bosnia Herzegovina with something like the status of Washington DC. It would thus remain outside the exclusive political control of the Bosnian Serb and Muslim Croat entities.
Serbs had threatened to resume war if denied control of the town, which sits on a narrow land corridor linking eastern and western halves of Serb controlled territory. The federation issued a counter threat and said handing the town to the Serbs would reward ethnic cleansing.