Partial Cease-Fire in Place in Sarajevo

SARAJEVO'S besieged people enjoyed a welcome respite from shelling yesterday, a day after the deadline for the warring sides in Bosnia to place their heavy weapons under the eyes of United Nations observers.

Mortars - not covered by the weapons agreement - still rained bombs overnight onto Dobrinja, the city's worst-hit suburb, and a few hit the old town. But there were no confirmed reports of heavy artillery being used.

Steps toward a full cease-fire and resumption of suspended aid flights depend on a new round of peace talks starting in Geneva on Friday.

The agreement, which also covers the Bosnian towns of Jajce, Bihac, and Gorazde, is intended to let monitors from the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) see which side is starting the shooting.

Radovan Karadzic, the Bosnian Serb leader, said all his big guns were now being watched, and that he had also agreed to a permanent UNPROFOR liaison officer being stationed at his headquarters at Pale outside the capital.

In Washington, US Defense Secretary Dick Cheney said he would discuss a European Community plan for a "no fly" zone over Bosnia during a trip to Britain and France beginning tomorrow.

The ban, chiefly aimed at flights by pro-Serb Yugoslav Air Force jets, is designed to make the skies safer for relief flights.

The desperately-needed airlift was suspended after an Italian plane carrying relief supplies was shot down on Sept. 3 by a ground-to-air missile.

Besides agreeing to the weapons monitoring, Mr. Karadzic said Saturday he welcomed the principle of a partial air-exclusion zone but said that a total ban on flights was unacceptable.