International Herald Tribune, thursday, september 15, 1994

Belgrade - The Yugoslav government approved on Wednwsday the deployment of international observers along its border with Bosnia to ensure that Serbia was complying with a blockade against renegade Serbs in Bosnia.

In a statement carried by the Tanjug news agency, the government said it welcomed a decision by "friendly" nations to send unarmed "members of national humanitarian organization" to the border.

Earlier Wednesday in Geneva, an international mediator, Lord Owen, announced that an initial team of civilian Nordic observers would head for Serbia on Thursday, followed by a second contingent Friday.

Serbia has agreed to the presence of unarmed monitors on its borders in hopes of gaining an end to United Nations-mandated sanctions that have crippled its economy for the past 28 months.

Official Serbian media reported earlier Wednesday that an easing of the economic embargo was imminent because President Slobodan Milosevic had met international demands that he end Belgrade's support for Bosnian Serbs.

Belgrade announced a total blockade against the Bosnian Serbs after they rejected the latest international plan to end the two-and-a-half-year Bosnian conflict.

Muslim and Serb news organizations in Bosnia reported continued fighting in the north-western Muslim enclave of Bihac and Serbian-held territory in the north.

UN peacekeepers said government forces in Bihac had retaken territory from attacking Serbian forces.

[AFP, Reuters]