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Bildt says Bosnian Serb presence still in doubt

TOKYO: The international community's High Representative to Bosnia, Carl Bildt, gave the go-ahead on Monday for a conference on Bosnian reconstruction but kept open the possibility Bosnian Serbs might be excluded for failing to free prisoners of war.

Bildt told a news conference that although the Bosnian Serbs had made "significant" progress in releasing prisoners, he was not yet ready to make a firm decision on their participation in the conference next weekend in Brussels.

"I can now give the green light for the Donors Pledging Conference in Brussels on 12-13 April," Bildt said.

Bildt said he would make a decision on Bosnia Serb participation by Wednesday after he returned to Sarajevo and assessed the situation of their release of prisoners.

Organisers of the major donors' conference had threatened to cancel the meeting unless all the remaining Bosnian prisoners of war held by the three warring factions -- Moslems, Croats and Serbs -- were released.

According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, 28 prisoners of war were held by the Bosnian Moslems, 44 by the Croats and 16 by the Serbs.

Bosnia's mainly Moslem central government freed 18 Serbs late on Friday while its partners, the Bosnian Croats, freed 28 prisoners of war. But the Bosnian Serbs have so far failed to respond with the hoped-for release of their detainees.

"We have seen over the past fortnight, with the question of prisoner release, just how important external pressure can be," said Bildt, a former Swedish prime minister.

"It was only by threatening to postpone this week's donors' conference that we have been able at last to force the parties into compliance (on prisoner releases) with the undertaking they had made in their peace agreement -- though there is still a question mark over the Bosnian Serbs."

Exclusion from the conference could cost the Bosnian Serbs many millions of dollars in reconstruction funding they might otherwise have received.

The conference in Brussels will aim to raise $1.2 billion in pledges for Bosnia this year to add to $600 million obtained last year.-Reuter