The American diplomat who helped negotiate the Dayton peace accord for Bosnia-Hercegovina, Richard Holbrooke, has sharply criticised the three-man Bosnian presidency for failing to implement central institutions they agreed in New York last November.

Mr Holbrooke, the US ambassador to the United Nations, currently holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council.

He said there was considerable annoyance among council members about the delays over the setting up of a joint secretariat and a joint border police force.

The Bosnian parliament on Wednesday again rejected a bill to introduce the border police because of objections by ten Bosnian Serb deputies. A spokeswoman for the international representative in Bosnia, Wolfgang Petrisch, said he was now likely to use his powers to impose the legislation.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service