Leaders of ethnic groups sign accord designed to unify Bosnia

THE leaders of Bosnia’s three major ethnic groups have reached an accord designed to unify the Balkan country by remaking the government’s constitution a decade after a bloody civil war.

Announcing the accord, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called it historic. She said it was “an example of how diverse people can live together without fear.”

While leaving details for later, the pact would have Bosnian leaders consolidate power in what would be a stronger national government.

The accord, coming a day after the 10th anniversary of the Dayton accords that ended the three-year war, marks a major step in binding the wounds left by what was Europe’s worst fighting since World War II. The conflict killed 260,000 people and drove 1.8 million from their homes.

“Today, Bosnia-Herzegovina is joining the international community,” Ms Rice said at a state department luncheon that blurred partisanship by paying tribute to the Clinton administration for brokering the Dayton accords.

Ms Rice said while the Dayton agreements were right for the time, Bosnia needs a stronger, energetic state “capable of advancing the public good and securing the national interest.”

Two separate agreements were signed by Rice and Bosnian Foreign Minister Mladem Ivanic that formalised US military access to Bosnia and to govern civil aviation there.

The leaders of the major communities - Serb, Croat and Muslim - issued a statement. It said: “We have decided to embark upon a process of constitutional reform that will enhance the authorities of the state government and streamline parliament and the office of the presidency.”

“These are only the first steps,” the agreement said. “We recognise that further reforms of the constitution will be necessary” to meet criteria for membership in the European Union.

Chairman of Bosnia’s current three-president arrangement Ivo Miro Jovic thanked the United States for its support. He said the Dayton accords showed “you cannot accomplish things with war.” In a separate statement, the Serb republic reaffirmed its obligations to co-operate with an international criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

And all of the leaders said they were determined to deliver all persons indicted for war crimes to the tribunal.

The most notorious of these are Radovan Karadzic and Gen Ratko Mladic, who were indicted 10 years ago by a UN tribunal. They were accused of masterminding the brutal Bosnian Serb offensives against rival Bosnian Muslims.

Leaders of the Serb republic called on them to surrender voluntarily “and by that act express their responsibility” towards the citizens of the Serb republic and Bosnia.

“There can be no more excuses, no more delays” in bringing them to justice, Ms Rice said.

A decade after a bloody three-year war gave way to an ethnically divided government, the agreement to overhaul the constitutional structure was signed on Monday night after three days of negotiations overseen by US diplomats.

The statement signed by representatives of the Croats, Serbs and Muslim political groups commits the parties to work out the details by March 2006, the official said.