U.S. ACCUSES BOSNIAN SERB TERRORISTS OF VIOLATING IRAQ'S EMBARGO

THE UNITED STATES ACCUSES BOSNIAN SERB TERRORISTS OF VIOLATING IRAQ'S EMBARGO

SARAJEVO - The United States has accused a Bosnian Serb company of supplying Iraq's air force with equipment and services in violation of a U.N. arms embargo, the Bosnian Foreign Ministry said Friday.

The U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo made the allegations as Washington stepped up calls for the ouster of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein for allegedly developing weapons of mass destruction.

"The U.S. Embassy lodged an official protest to the Foreign Ministry over a Bosnian Serb company which is accused of breaking a U.N. Security Council resolution by supplying Iraq's air force with equipment and expertise," Foreign Ministry spokesman Amer Kapetanovic said. The ministry did not name the company.

The U.S. embassy confirmed it had raised a possible violation of the U.N. embargo with Bosnian authorities, but declined to give details.

"We take all such cases seriously and have called for an investigation to be conducted by relevant authorities," said embassy spokeswoman Julie O'Reagan.

"If violations are found to have occurred, the violations need to cease and those responsible to be held accountable."

A Bosnian government source said the embassy had alleged that a plant in Bosnia's Serb Republic had provided Iraq with spare parts and repair services for its Soviet-era MiG-21 military aircraft.

The embassy also suspected that Bosnian Serb experts had been sent to train Iraqis to maintain and repair aircraft, the source told Reuters.

The Bosnian presidency discussed the issue at a meeting on Friday and called on Bosnian Serb authorities to investigate the allegations thoroughly. The presidency also said it would ask the U.N. and the U.S. Embassy for help.

The 1990s Balkans conflict ended with Bosnia divided into two highly autonomous entities -- the Bosniak-Croat federation and the Serb Republic. The central government enjoys only limited powers.

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SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina - A Bosnian Serb defense manufacturer has allegedly sold military equipment to the Iraqi military, violating U.N. Security Council resolutions, U.S. officials in Sarajevo said Friday.

The U.S. Embassy in Bosnia informed Bosnia's Foreign Minister Zlatko Lagumdzija on Thursday that it had obtained information on "probable violations of U.N. Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq," an embassy official speaking on condition of anonymity said.

There was no indication of when the alleged transactions took place.

In its Friday session, the three members of Bosnia's multiethnic presidency called on the Bosnian Serb government to conduct an "immediate and detailed investigation" into the matter.

"We condemn any violation of the U.N. resolutions by anybody in Bosnia," said Jozo Krizanovic, the Croat member of the presidency.

The company, Orao, has for decades built and exported engine parts for military aircraft, and also acts as a training center for mechanics and technicians.

At the end of Bosnia's 1992-1995 war, the former Yugoslav defense company was moved by the Bosnian Serbs from its location in Sarajevo to its present facility in Bijeljina, now in the Serb half of the country, some 105 kilometers (65 miles) northwest of Sarajevo.

Orao officials were not available for comment.

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