UN Bosnia peacekeeping mission extended for 72 hours

After dramatically vetoing a resolution to extend UN peacekeeping in Bosnia, the US agreed to a 72-hour extension to try to find a solution to its demand that its peacekeepers be exempt from prosecution by the new international war crimes tribunal.

US Ambassador John Negroponte joined the other 14 Security Council members yesterday in unanimously approving the extension until midnight Wednesday. Two hours earlier, Mr Negroponte vetoed a much longer extension because it did not include immunity for US peacekeepers.