USA: OHIO: WARRING PARTIES IN BOSNIA REACH PEACE AGREEMENT

(21 Nov 1995) English/Nat
U-S President Bill Clinton on Tuesday announced that the warring parties in Bosnia had reached an agreement after three weeks of talks in Dayton Ohio.
The agreement comes after some apparent last-ditch negotiations at the Ohio talks, ending three and a half years of conflict.
Speaking in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Clinton outlined the agreement in a speech which seemed as much directed at the U-S Congress as to the Bosnian factions.
The world held its breath in anticipation of today's announcement - last-minute differences in the last 48 hours threatened the collapse of the Bosnia peace talks - but they were finally overcome.
After three weeks of arduous talks, President Clinton was able to announce a comprehensive settlement had been reached to end the worst conflict in Europe since World War II.
SOUNDBITE:
The Presidents of Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia have reached a peace agreement to end the war in Bosnia, to end the worst conflict in Europe since World War II. After nearly four years of 250 thousand people killed, two million refugees, atrocities that have appalled people all over the world, the people of Bosnia finally have the chance to turn from the horror of war to the promise of peace. The Presidents of Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia have made a historic and heroic choice. They have heeded the will of their people, whatever their ethnic group, the overwhelming majority of Bosnia's citizens and the citizens of Croatia and Serbia, want the same thing, they want to stop the slaughter, they want to put an end to the violence and war, they want to give their children and their grandchildren the chance to lead a normal life. Today, thank God, the voices of those people have been heard.
SUPER CAPTION: President Bill Clinton
Agreement was reached in Dayton only after U-S negotiators presented Balkan leaders with a last-ditch proposal to overcome a stubborn territorial dispute.
The settlement, when it came, was comprehensive.
SOUNDBITE:
The peace plan agreed to would preserve Bosnia as a single state, within its present borders and with international recognition. The state will be made up of two parts, the Bosnian-Croat federation and the Bosnian Serb republic with a fair distribution of land between the two. The capital city of Sarajevo will remain united. There will be an effective central government, including a national parliament, a presidency and a constitutional court with responsibility for foreign policy, foreign trade, monetary policy, citizenry, immigration and other important functions. The presidency and the parliament will be chosen through free democratic elections held under international supervision. Refugees will be allowed to return to their homes, people will be allowed to move freely throughout Bosnia, and the human rights of every Bosnian citizen will be monitored by an independent commission and an internationally-trained civilian police. Those individuals charged with war crimes will be excluded from political life.
SUPER CAPTION: President Bill Clinton
In a message aimed at a domestic audience as much as Bosnian factions, Clinton said they had to help the warring parties to make the peace settlement work. The military aspects of the agreement could be implemented in a matter of days.
Clinton reaffirmed his commitment of some 20,000 American troops to a NATO peacekeeping force that will be deployed in Bosnia once the agreement is formalized.
SOUNDBITE:
SUPER CAPTION: President Bill Clinton

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