USA: WASHINGTON: PRESIDENT CLINTON WARNS OF SPREAD OF BALKAN WAR

Описание: (5 Aug 1995) English/Nat
President Clinton Friday warned that Croatia's offensive against rebel Serbs may spread the war in the Balkans.
He admitted that the Croat action had relieved the Serb stranglehold on the UN "safe haven" of Bihac.
But he said it had become so comprehensive that it ran the risk of a wider war.
President Clinton consented to Croatia's right to defend its territory from rebel Serb aggression.
But he expressed alarm that a continued offensive might lead to a widespread war.
SOUNDBITE:
"The original Croatian action which we were told by the Croatian government they would feel compelled to take was animated by the Serbian attack on Bihac. But we have asked them to exercise real restraint because we are very concerned about a wider war."
SUPER CAPTION: Bill Clinton - President of the United States
At an end-of-term news conference, both leaders of Congress insisted present US policy on Bosnia was a failure.
Senate leader Bob Dole again pressed for a unilateral lifting of the arms embargo against Bosnia's Muslims.
SOUNDBITE:
"My view still is that they should lift the arms embargo, withdraw the UN and let the Bosnians defend themselves as the Croats are doing now. Certainly, I would warn the Croatians in the strongest possible terms to treat the Serbs as you would expect to be treated."
SUPER CAPTION: Bob Dole - Republican Senate majority leader
But on the last day's session in the House of Representatives, and with just a week still to go in the Senate, neither is keen to overturn a presidential veto yet.
Senators with responsibility for foreign relations are reluctant to wrestle Bosnian policy from the White House:
SOUNDBITE:
"The president's veto I'm confident can be overridden which would be a direct repudiation of the president's policy and at the same time the Congress is very reluctant to take charge of policy on Bosnia so therefore it is in the interest of both parties to sit down and work out some kind of agreement."
SUPER CAPTION: Senator John McCain - Senate Foreign Relations Committee]
McCain's colleagues on the House side, who've voted conclusively to lift the embargo, seem resigned to the possibility that the president may uphold a veto.
SOUNDBITE
"You know when the White House reaches out at the strong hand of the executive branch sometimes votes do change."
SUPER CAPTION: Republican Benjamin Gilman - Chairman House International Relations Committee
The immediacy of a unilateral lifting of the arms embargo may be receding, if not the policy itself.

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