Bosnian Envoy Slams US Peace Plan

BOSNIA'S ambassador to Britain said Aug. 15 that the latest American peace plan for his country had no chance of success.

''The new American plan ... has the fate of all the previous plans. Namely, it has no chance at all,'' Muhammad Filipovic told reporters. ''It is only to buy time for the Serbs.''

The US has been shuttling to European capitals promoting its new plan - not yet released to the public - since Croatia retook the rebel Serb-held Krajina region in late July.

But published reports suggest Washington wants to redraw the Western nations' map dividing Bosnia to favor the Croats, asking the Muslims to give up the safe haven of Gorazde in exchange for more land around Sarajevo.

At a joint news conference with Mr. Filipovic - reflecting the new Muslim-Croat alliance on the ground - Croatia's ambassador to Britain stopped short of endorsing the US proposal, but said the chances for a peaceful settlement were better now than ever.

Russia welcomed the new US effort, but said it contained an unacceptable military element.

Under negotiation is the shape of postwar Bosnia, which some in Sarajevo worry might get carved up between the Serbs and Croats, leaving Muslims squeezed into a tiny pocket.

A June 1994 proposal by the five-nation ''contact group'' would have given 51 percent of Bosnia to the Muslim-led Bosnian government and its Croat allies and 49 percent to the Serbs.

Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic has already ruled out any deal that would oblige his Muslim-led government to hand over the Gorazde enclave for territory around Sarajevo.