December 5, 1995
Web posted at: 10:00 a.m. EST (1500 GMT)
(CNN) -- As advance troops of soldiers from the United States and other NATO countries Tuesday began their work of preparing the way for peace-keepers in Bosnia, the White House downplayed a report that President Clinton is considering a trip to the region later this month. Meanwhile, NATO ministers gave formal approval to the biggest operation in its history.
Around 20 U.S. reconnaissance and communications specialists arrived in Tuzla, in northeast Bosnia, to begin setting up a base for 20,000 American troops, a key element of the 60,000-strong multinational force that will police the Bosnia peace deal. The units moving in this week are part of a 2,600-member enabling force that is preparing the way for the main troops. About 1,400 of the enabling force troops will be American. (638K QuickTime movie)
U.S. Army inspectors had already visited Tuzla, but the troops arriving on Tuesday were the first scheduled to stay for the entire mission, expected to last a year. Other troops arrived on Tuesday from Britain, heading for their designated base in Gornji Vakuf, in central Bosnia, and a 13-vehicle convoy carrying technical equipment left from Italy.
White House sources said Clinton had previously expressed interest in traveling to Sarajevo as a sign of support for the peace process. The Washington Post, citing an unnamed senior administration official, reported Clinton's trip would take place right after the final peace accord is signed by all parties in Paris on December 14. On Tuesday morning, however, White House spokesman Mike McCurry said the matter is not under serious consideration at this time. White House sources told CNN that such a trip would be too hard to arrange in the midst of a large troop deployment in a war-torn area.
As the troops were trickling into Bosnia, NATO foreign and defense ministers meeting in Brussels, Belgium, met and gave final approval to the peace implementation force (IFOR). The mission received a welcome boost on Tuesday as France confirmed it would take a fuller part in the alliance's military structure, which it quit in 1966. Relations between French and other troops serving in the U.N. military mission in Bosnia have sometimes been strained, and were not helped by recent remarks by the French U.N. commander in Sarajevo criticizing the U.S.-brokered peace deal agreed in Dayton, Ohio, last month.
In Italy, a 13-vehicle convoy carrying technical equipment left NATO's southern Europe command in Naples, bound for the Croatian capital of Zagreb. NATO said the computers, radio equipment and other communications gear would be used by the enabling force responsible for setting up operations for peace-keeping troops still to come. Senior U.S. Air Force Airman John Berry, a convoy driver, said he thought the overland trip through Italy to Trieste and on to Zagreb would take about two days.
NATO said the equipment would be unloaded in Zagreb and then distributed to various NATO posts. NATO's southern command said another 45 people from its joint operations and logistics department would leave on Wednesday. Apart from the 16 NATO countries, about 12 non-member states, including Russia, are contributing to the enabling force, which includes communication technicians, logistics experts and support personnel.
As U.S. troops began arriving there were warnings they could be targeted by Iranian Revolutionary Guards who have been helping Bosnia's Moslem-led army. The Los Angeles Times reported that Washington regarded some 200 Iranian guards who have been training the Bosnian army and volunteers from other Islamic countries as a major threat. U.S. Defense Secretary William Perry said on Monday he had been assured by Bosnian Prime Minister Haris Silajdzic that all 2,000 foreign Moslem fighters would be removed within 30 days of the signing of the accord on December 14.
Perry said special precautions would be taken against possible attacks on U.S. troops from Islamic fundamentalists. Privately however U.S. officials feared the Bosnian government might find it hard to expel fighters from Iran, the country that did most to help Bosnia militarily and financially in its hour of need, the paper reported. The U.S. government fears Iran may use Bosnia as a venue for attacking American troops or facilities in retaliation for the tightening of U.S. sanctions against Tehran last spring and years of U.S. hostility towards it, the paper added.
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