Rival factions in the Bosnian Serb leadership are meeting again on Friday in an effort to agree on the distribution of posts in the territory's cabinet. The meeting in the town of Brcko follows the failure in December to agree on a new Prime Minister or other cabinet ministers. The dispute is part of an ongoing power struggle between the Bosnian Serb President, Biljana Plavsic, who has the backing of the International Community and more hard line politicians, loyalists of Mrs Plavsic's predecessor, Radovan Karadzic. The senior American negotiator, Jacques Klein, said that if the Bosnian Serbs elected a government that was willing to implement the Dayton accords, long denied economic assistance would be forthcoming. Our Foreign Affairs Correspondent, Fergus Nicoll, reports from Sarajevo;

Symbolically this crucial meeting takes place in Brcko where the two halves of Bosnian Serb territory meet. On the evidence of the last attempt to reach a compromise in Bijeljina ten days ago, the Republica Serbska and its parliament are hopelessly divided, reflecting the bitter rivalry between the Pale and Banja Luka factions.

Mrs Plavsic' cabinet blueprint centres on Mladen Ivanic, an economist described as a non-partisan candidate. Around him as Prime Minister she wants to build a government of opposition parties.

That proposal has been enthusiastically endorsed by the International Community. The senior negotiator, Jacques Klein, said after a meeting with Mrs Plavsic that Mr Ivanic was a man of exceptional character with the right credentials.

He said badly needed economic assistance would at last be forthcoming if the right choice were made. But the Ivanic candidacy has been roundly rejected by Momcilo Krajisnik, the Serb member of the joint Bosnian Presidency.

Mr Krajisnik is seen as the public face of Radovan Karadzic, who's disappeared from view since being indicted on war crimes charges but still wields great influence. The outgoing Prime Minister, Gojko Klickovic, also a Karadzic loyalist, has said the Plavsic plan would lead to the breakup with the Republica Serbska.