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PM pays first visit to Bosnia

Saturday, November 29, 1997 Published at 03:29 GMT

image: [ Tony Blair visiting Banja Luka where 5000 British soldiers are based ]

PM pays first visit to Bosnia
The British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, has arrived on his first visit to Bosnia since being elected last May.

Mr Blair landed in the northwestern town of Banja Luka, the largest Serb-held town in Bosnia, which is the headquarters for British soldiers in the NATO-led peacekeeping force, and the stronghold of the Bosnian Serb President, Biljana Plavsic.

Plavsic has won strong Western backing for her anti-corruption campaign, aimed primarily at Radovan Karadzic, the wartime Bosnian Serb leader who was formally pushed out of office by the Dayton peace agreement but still wields immense influence. Mr Karadzic is wanted by the Geneva War Crimes Tribunal.

After arriving, Mr Blair went immediately into talks with Plavsic.

Britain is the second largest contributor to the international peace force in Bosnia, with some 5,000 soldiers on the ground, after the United States which has about 8,000 soldiers on the ground.

The Prime Minister is expected to visit the Bosnian capital Sarajevo, where he will tour the ravaged city and visit sites of some of the worst atrocities of Bosnia's three-and-a-half-year war, including the Markale market - site of two wartime mortar attacks that killed scores of Sarajevans.

Mr Blair is also due to meet members of Bosnia's joint presidency and senior international officials to discuss the progress made to implement the Dayton peace accord.

Internet Links

Foreign and Commonwealth Office
US State Department: The Dayton peace agreement

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