Citation
MADRID, April 15 (Reuter) - U.N. Secretary-General Boutros
Boutros-Ghali said on Friday the United Nations would not give in to
pressure from Bosnian Serbs in the former Yugoslavia.
The United Nations will not give in to blackmail. It represents the
will of the international community and if the international community
demands the use of force, the United Nations will use force,
Boutros-Ghali said in Madrid.
Bosnian Serb forces have detained or placed under house arrest about
200 U.N. personnel and a U.N. spokesman said on Friday the detentions
might be aimed at deterring further NATO air raids.
We are negotiating with the Bosnian forces and we hope to find a
solution quickly. I am quite optimistic,
Boutros-Ghali said after
talks with Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez as part of a three-day
official visit.
The secretary-general reiterated his determination to call for air
strikes again if U.N. forces were in danger. NATO planes fired on
Bosnian Serb positions around the besieged Moslem enclave of Goradze on
Sunday and Monday.
If it is necessary, we will not hesitate to call again on NATO to use
force to protect the U.N. forces. This is a clear warning to all those
elements in Yugoslavia who are trying to oppose the U.N.,
he said.
Boutros-Ghali also referred to Russian discontent with the NATO air
strikes, expressed by President Boris Yeltsin during his visit to
Madrid earlier this week.
The Russian authorities in New York were told about the planned
strikes before they took place,
Boutros-Ghali said.
But he agreed with Yeltsin's comment that military action would not
bring peace in the former Yugoslavia.
I think that the role of the U.N. is to encourage dialogue and find a
peaceful solution.
Boutros-Ghali said the United Nations agreed with Belgium's decision to
withdraw its 420 troops from Rwanda and added he was in daily contact
with Belgian Foreign Minister Willy Claes.
Asked whether the rest of the 2,500-strong U.N. contingent would be
withdrawn, he said: The Security Council will decide if it should
maintain a military presence in Rwanda.
He said the Council would also decide whether to replace the Belgian
forces with others and said he had included changing the current U.N.
mandate and sending more troops as one option in a letter he sent to
the Security Council earlier this week.
The United Nations would also continue to work towards a ceasefire and
would try to get the Hutus and Tutsis to agree an accord based on the
Arusha agreement of August 1993, if this was what the warring factions
wanted, he added.
Earlier, students calling for greater U.N. intervention in Western
Sahara confronted Boutros-Ghali as he entered the Carlos the Third
University in Madrid to receive an honorary doctorate.
He was handed an open letter, calling for a greater effort by the
United Nations to solve the conflict between those seeking an
independent Western Sahara and the Moroccan authorities. The area is a
former Spanish colony.
Boutros-Ghali flies to Barcelona on Friday evening where he will spend
a day before leaving on Saturday afternoon.
(c) Reuters Limited 1994
