MonitoRadio Daily Program; [1993-05-05]

. This is Monitor Radio, a worldwide broadcast service of the Christian Science Monitor. I'm Rod McLeish in Washington coming up, Washington and Moscow join forces on Bosnia and Peacekeeping. Bosnia is foreign minister on the sources of his country's conflict. It's a planned genocide, and if we let them get away with it, I think we are going to live in a jungle, and all those who think it's not their doorstep are very wrong. I'm Pat Bodner in Boston in Paraguay, the first free elections in nearly two centuries.

The White House abandons its plan to provide free immunizations to all the nation's children. We'll have these stories and a summary of the day's news coming up in the next half hour of Monitor Radio. From American Public Radio, I'm Paula Dobin at the Radio News Desk of the Christian Science Monitor. The Bosnian Serb Parliament has yet to decide whether to endorse an international peace plan for the former Yugoslav Republic of Bosnia, Herzegovina. The session has broken up for the day, but it is scheduled to reconvene tomorrow when a vote is expected. BBC correspondent Jane Howard is monitoring the meeting in the Bosnian resort town of Pale. Headquarters at a ski resort in the mountains above Sarajevo. President Milosevic of Serbia and other Yugoslav leaders are present to try to persuade the deputies to accept

the plan. If the deputies ratify the Athens Accord, a massive and complicated peacekeeping plan will swing into action. If they reject it, they face possible air strikes by Western warplanes. The BBC's Jane Howard. Russia has agreed to join allied peacekeeping efforts in Bosnia if the Vans Owen Peace Plan is ratified and takes effect. But like several other governments, Moscow's stopped short of endorsing the Clinton administration's proposal for possible air strikes against the Serbs if the Bosnian war continues. US Secretary of State Warren Christopher, who is in Moscow after a European tour, has received only lukewarm support from US allies to possible military intervention in Bosnia. US congressional leaders are voicing support for President Clinton in whatever road he decides to take in handling the Bosnian crisis. Mr. Clinton met with leading lawmakers today to discuss his options. Monitor Radio's Jim Kane reports from Washington. The President met with democratic and Republican leaders to discuss what action the US might take in Bosnia as part of a

peacekeeping force or in any military operation should the Serbs reject the peace plan. The leaders emerged from the meeting to express their support for the President. Senate Republican leader Bob Dole said that support will cross party lines. There's no disagreement here among the leadership on either side and the Serb regime as opposed to the Serb people should understand that there will be bipartisan support. US Secretary of State Warren Christopher continues his trip abroad, seeking international support for whatever action is necessary in former Yugoslavia. For the Christian Science Monitor, I'm Jim Kane in Washington. Serbian forces turned away United Nations military observers today who are trying to reach the eastern Bosnian town of Jeppe. Serbian attacks on the Muslim enclave reportedly intensified today, leaving more than 50 dead. A radio operator in Jeppe says incendiary shelling has left much of the town burning. Arab and Israeli negotiators have decided to extend the ninth round of midi's peace talks an additional week. Negotiations were scheduled to end tomorrow, but they will be continued until May 13th

in a bid to make progress toward an overall settlement. On Wall Street, the Dow industrials are up one and a half points at 3447. This is monitor radio news on APR. After five months of negotiations, Germany and Poland are poised to sign a treaty to keep thousands of asylum -seeking refugees from entering Germany through Poland. Correspondent Alexa divorce in reports from Cologne. The need for a treaty between Poland and Germany arose when bond voted on the new tighter asylum law that effectively bars most refugees from entering Germany through its neighboring countries. Since the law would allow officials to turn back migrants at the border, if they are not considered bona fide political refugees, each European countries expressed concern they would not be able to cope with tens of thousands of asylum -seekers. The treaty to be signed this week assures financial assistance for Poland to strengthen its border security and set up an infrastructure to handle large numbers of migrants refused entry to Germany. In the months remaining before Germany's stricter law takes effect, the number of asylum -seekers entering the country

totaled 160 ,000 in the first four months of the year. That's a 30 % increase from this time last year. For the Christian Science Monitor, this is Alexa divorce in Cologne. President Clinton welcomed American troops home from Somalia today. At a Rose Garden ceremony, he thanked Marine Lieutenant General Robert Johnston, the U .S. commander who led the famine relief mission. General Johnston has just reported to me mission accomplished. And so on behalf of all the American people I say to you, General, and to all of whom you brought with you, welcome home. And thank you for a job. Very, very well done. More than 30 ,000 American forces served in Somalia over the last five months to combat lawlessness and famine. About 4 ,000 Americans remain in the East African nation as part of a 28 ,000 member UN peacekeeping force. The U .S. Federal Reserve says the nation's economy improved modestly last month citing growth in manufacturing and retail sales. For Monitor Radio, I'm Paula Dobin on American Public Radio.

This is Monitor Radio. I'm Pat Bodner. I'm Rod McLeish. Russia agreed today to send troops to Bosnia to help enforce the United Nations peace plan against factions resisting its provisions. Serbian leaders pleaded with the self -appointed Bosnia and Serb Parliament to adopt the Vance Own Peace Initiative, stressing there was no other alternative to peace. The Russian announcement came with the conclusion of talks in Moscow between Secretary of State Warren Christopher and Russian Foreign Minister Andre

Kuzarev. For the Russians, the decision is not an easy one. Russia and Serbia have a relationship based on their common Slavic ethnic origins. Monitor Radio's Moscow bureau chief Simon Marx looks at the Russian Serbian ties in this special report from Eastern Bosnia. Two dozen men transport boxes of ammunition from a truck to a Bosnian mountainside. The wooden crates are full of high velocity rifles, bullets and the other trappings of Europe's bloodiest conflict. But the language the men speak is not often heard here in the village of Skolani on Bosnia's Drener River. The men are Russian fighting on the Serb side, nationalist who have stood between Boris Yeltsin and the world community to join battle with their Slav cousins. We

were caught in crossfire from the left, the Muslims were shooting. From below the Serbs were shooting. We only just crawled our way out. I saw a Serb aiming at me and I started shouting at him. Don't shoot, I'm one of you. There are many foreign mercenaries fighting in the former Yugoslavia, but this Russian and his colleagues haven't come here to earn money. They've traveled to Bosnia because of their beliefs. More than 200 nationalists sent by a group based in St Petersburg are picking up where they say the Russian government has left off, supporting the Serbs in the face of perceived international hostility. Georgi Kokunko is one of them. We have completely forgotten that Russia, like last days, has its own strategic and geopolitical interests, especially in such a vital region as the Balkans. We have forgotten and discarded them. The nationalists believe Russians and Serbs are bound by language, politics, and most importantly of all by their

Orthodox Christian faith. They argue that by failing to declare open support for the Serbian leaders in Belgrade, President Yeltsin is betraying Russia's natural and traditional allies. The Russian government argues it's the nationalists who are acting contrary to the country's interests. Deputy Foreign Minister Vitaly Chukin is President Yeltsin's special envoy on the former Yugoslavia. He says Russian nationalists who back the Serbs are a minority intent on damaging Boris Yeltsin's reputation. Their only interest is to excite passions here at home and to use this issue as another opportunity to attack the government. For those people there is not much a chance of really talking productively. At a Moscow army base troops are preparing for official duty in Bosnia. They're trained in how to respond to an ambush and how to cope with the rugged terrain they'll find there. Russian soldiers are already serving in the former Yugoslavia with the UN peacekeeping forces

and the government in Moscow says it's ready to commit more men. Lieutenant Colonel Piotr Ivanov, in charge of the training program, says whatever the links between Russia and Serbia, his men can be counted on to do their international duty. In culture and language it may be easier to find common ground but it may make an absolutely no difference to the officers and soldiers of the UN battalion in fulfilling their military purpose. And the soldiers themselves agree Sergeant Vladimir Ivankov will arrive in Bosnia later this month. We are there to make peace out of war if we have to fight in order to achieve that peace and we shall fulfill that task. For the Russians being part of the international peacekeeping effort is

a new development and one that the government is keen to encourage. So ironically while these Russian volunteers in Bosnia are trained by Serb commanders in the art of war their government in Moscow is training troops in the art of keeping the peace. For the Christian science monitor I'm Simon Mark in Moscow. Bosnia is foreign minister Harry Selajic has been touring the western world appealing for help especially for an end to the arms embargo that keeps Muslims from getting more weapons to fight their Serbian and Croat enemies. Mr. Selajic a Muslim a native of Sarajevo and and historian by profession was in Washington today to confer with the administration and members of Congress. He says that the source of the original rift that set CROAT Serbs and Muslims and each other's throats is simple. Well these rifts are very imported by

a nationalist ideology from Belgrade so it depends on stopping this influence is deadly influence from Belgrade and the nationalists. How did the nationalist led by Slobodan Milosevic persuade the masses of Serbs to go along with this dreadful situation that you've got on your hands? It's a combination of elements, number on the social and economic impasse combined with the andro -rented media campaign for about six years now. I'm finding enemies all on all sides and blaming the problems on enemies creating gradually paranoid situation in which finally you only have to point a finger to make an enemy and that combined with the history of the region was deadly or suicidal whatever way you take it. Do you think given

that kind of passion and ideological investment that the Serbs can be trusted to honor any ceasefire agreement? They will honor ceasefire agreement if there is enough force to deter them. Do you think they can be persuaded to give back the territory they've captured? Only by force. What kind of response are you getting here in Washington in particular from your appeals for help? Well, much more response than anywhere else. I can say that the Americans both people and the administration are much more responsive to human suffering than the governments in Europe. In Europe, whatever people want and they're very much sympathetic with what happens in Bosnia. People are asking for action. It somehow is not translated into the executive decisions of those in here in the States. It's quite a different case. There has been talk of war crimes trials and

Slobodan Milosevic is at the top of the list, apparently along with Mr. Karajic, the leader of the Bosnian Serbs. If there were such trials, would they solve anything in the internal Bosnian context or would they simply re -inflame the old conflicts? I think they would serve justice and it doesn't matter what inflames or it does not inflame. We owe the victims something. The amount of torture, of savagery, of viztiality is just unbelievable. Beyond human imagination, those guys killing 200 ,000 people. It's not an accident. It's a planned genocide and if we let them get away with it, I think we are going to live in a jungle and all those who think it's not their doorstep are very wrong. Mr. Harris,

I think we are going to live in a jungle and we are going to live in a jungle and we are going With news on the environment, I'm Trevor Nelson. Pollution, including a mass of tainted air the size of Africa over the North Pole and dumping of nuclear waste threatens the entire Arctic region. That according to US government scientists gathered at a week -long conference in Anchorage, Alaska. The conference offers the first comprehensive picture of environmental pollution in the Arctic since the end of the Cold War, as one secret information from Russia and now independent East European nations was disseminated to the scientists. The Energy Department today promised a rigorous effort to ensure safety and atomic weapons plants. Secretary

of Energy Hazel O 'Leary said the new initiatives would authorize senior health officials to close plants deemed unsafe. The plan also envisions the increased presence of outside health and safety regulators at DOE facilities. That's today's environmental news. This is Monitor Radio. The Clinton administration today abandoned its plan to buy vaccines for America's rich and poor children alike and said it was willing to support a compromise version of its proposal. The White House ran into stiff opposition from Republicans and the pharmaceutical industry. But administration officials argue the watered -down version still represents a victory for millions of children and at half the cost. Meanwhile, some key congressional Republicans remain unconvinced. Monitor Radio's Terra -Silah reports from Washington. The compromise was hammered out with congressional Democrats after they warned the Clinton administration that its proposal to

provide universal government purchased vaccinations to the nation's children did not have enough support on Capitol Hill. Dan Rostyn Kowski, chairman of the Powerful House Ways and Means Committee, issued this public warning to the administration during a hearing on Tuesday. The president's original plan would have cost $4 .7 billion over five years. I have made clear to Secretary Shilayla that I do not believe the committee can accommodate such a large new spending program. While the details are still being worked out, the Democratic compromise would cut the cost of the immunization program in half while still providing free government purchased vaccines to uninsured children and children on Medicaid. But children whose insurance already covers vaccinations would not be eligible for the government vaccines. The compromise does retain the administration's proposed computerized tracking system aimed at reminding parents and doctors when children need their shots. The immunization program would be paid for through savings in other

entitlements or with increased taxes. Joe White, a research associate with the Brookings Institution says the administration appears to be getting most of what it wanted. It does sound like this compromise will provide most of the funding that was needed for most of the people who are most likely not to have immunizations. The major concern you would have on any immunization proposal is how they actually will track the people down and make sure they show up to get the vaccines. And that's a matter of implementation, not of the basic financing. Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shilayla says the compromise gives the administration 90 percent of what it wanted. But Republican Senator John Danforth of Missouri says the compromise is still not adequate. It is still a subsidy for people who are not necessarily poor. It provides for the purchase of vaccines, particularly if states want to do it through the federal government

on a universal basis. And we think that's a bad idea. Danforth has proposed his own $450 million compromise which emphasizes education, outreach and tracking. It would expand Medicaid coverage for immunizations, but also would allow states to require that mothers on welfare have their children immunized before receiving their benefits. Danforth opposition is important because the Missouri Republican is considered a moderate. It was his vote and the votes of other moderate Republicans that President Clinton needed and failed to get to push his jobs bill through the Senate. The administration may well find itself in a similar situation with health care issues. Joe White with the Brookings Institution says the administration was compelled to compromise on the vaccination program and it bid to win over a few Republicans like Danforth and Senators Nancy Kassenbaum and Dave Durinberger. Because they need the votes of people like Senator Durinberger on other issues, particularly in health matters,

because they want to show that they can compromise and deal with the Republicans. But basically because they were afraid of losing, I'm sure. Some health officials say the administration might have done a better job selling its original proposal to lawmakers that seems to be an increasingly common criticism of this White House. Still, the Children's Defense Fund said it's satisfied with the Democratic compromise, although that enthusiasm made dwindle if the administration is forced to compromise further in order to win over some Republican support. For the Christian Science Monitor, I'm Tara Paraguay, one of two landlocked countries in South America, lies between Brazil, Argentina, and Bolivia. Its history is made up largely of political and military calamities. Three oppressive 19th -century

dictators involved Paraguay in other people's wars, one of which killed off half the Paraguayan population. In 1940, dictatorships resumed after a series of ineffectual governments. The last dictator General Alfredo Strussner ruled Paraguay with an iron fist until the 1980s. Against this dismal background, Paraguayan voters are going to the polls this weekend to choose a new president in the first year. On a crowded podium, fastuned with blue and white streamers, three musicians sing about the courage and determination of Dr. Domingo Laino, the Liberal Party's candidate for president. Under the hot autumn sun,

hundreds of poor farmers and their families have traveled across Paraguay's flat, deforested countryside to hear the candidate speak. The candidate, although trailing in the polls, was a symbol of resistance against the repressive regime of former dictator General Alfredo Strussner, who ruled Paraguay with his Colorado party from 1954 until he was overthrown by another general in 1989. Laino was one of the more prominent of the thousands of people jailed, beaten, and exiled for speaking their mind during Strussner's rule. Now on the campaign trail, Laino speaks of conciliation. Your political party doesn't matter, he says. What matters is your capacity, your honesty. It's what the crowd is yearning to hear. After 40 years of military rule, they've seen little improvement in their lives. Most still live in barren Adobe Shacks without water or electricity, and most still farm small rented plots producing just

enough to feed their families. But there is one significant difference. Since Strussner was overthrown in 1989, freedom of speech and freedom of press have flourished. 22 -year -old Epifina Estrelia, with her fourth child, propped on her lap, says that has released lots of frustration. Yes, we suffered a lot during the Strussner years. We couldn't speak our minds, we couldn't even play the music we wanted to listen to. Now we have liberty and hope in Dr. Domingo Laino. Laino fuels that hope, talking of change and opportunity. But he is also a realist. The Strussner regime was noted for human rights abuses and its institutionalized corruption. Conservative estimates suggest that 40 % of the economy is now contraband, illegally flowing back and forth across Paraguay's open borders. Laino, an economist, says the corruption is deeply entrenched. In four years, we've improved a lot in human rights and civil

liberties, but there's been little done in the social and economic areas to bring improvement there. You have to touch Paraguay's powerful vested interests, and they have a stake in having the corruption continue. That's Paraguay's greatest challenge. Despite his ouster, Strussner's Colorado Party still dominates the military and government bureaucracy. The party's presidential candidate is Juan Carlos Wasmosi, an engineer who made a fortune in the 1970s working on Strussner's E -type UDAM project, now the largest hydroelectric plant in the Americas. The core of the Colorado Party's campaign operates from Wasmosi's walled in elegant 19th century colonial compound on the outskirts of Assangeon. Armed police guard the gateway where a small group of people wait to be admitted. Inside, the candidate is hurried and preoccupied. The consolidation of the democratic process, the coloration of the party, what's most says Paraguay's greatest challenge is to consolidate the transition to democracy, and like the other candidates, he

talks about implementing a market system and doing away with the corruption. But even as he speaks, he's facing charges of fraud from within his own party. Through it all, Wasmosi denies there is any wrongdoing. No, I don't think so. It's just the way democracy works. In the United States, during a campaign, they say all kinds of things, cues men of having women. No, comparatively, here it's nothing. In a sunny, packed auditorium across from Assangeon's famed botanical gardens, hundreds of young people cheer the arrival of Guillermo Cabellero Vargas, the candidate of a new independent party called in Quentro Nacional that is leading in public opinion polls. Cabellero Vargas is a political newcomer. This guy and of an old Paraguayan family who built one of the country's most successful textile factories, marketing internationally, Paraguay's high

-quality cottons. He is young, urban and relaxed. Cabellero Vargas says the Colorado Party has had plenty of time, and it's done nothing but serve the privileged. Not a minute more, he tells the crowd. Cabellero Vargas is also a realist. He says the most difficult challenge will be to do away with the entrenched system of political patronage, which has bred both mediocrity and corruption. I'm an optimist. I believe that with tenacity and hard work, we can teach people by example. We're not going to be able to eliminate the corruption totally, but we can do away with the institutional basis of it, the patronage, and we can set a different kind of example. All of the campaigning has tapped a deep -seated desire for change in Paraguay's people. Almost everyone, from the casinos in the interior to the taxi drivers in the capital, is quick

to tell you who they're supporting and why. But that sense of hope is also tempered by a fear of fraud and a history of military meddling in political affairs. International monitors are here in force, hoping to ensure the main 9th elections will be fair and free of fraud. Their outcome will determine if Paraguay can move ahead on the road to reform, or remain ensnared in the patronage and corruption that impoverished its people, and isolated the country for the last 40 years. For the Christian Science Monitor, I'm Alexandra Marx in Kanin Daiu Paraguay. You're listening to monitor radio and international source of news from the Christian Science Monitor. I'm Pat Bodner in Boston. I'm Rod McLeish in Washington. This is monitor radio, a worldwide broadcast service

of the Christian Science Monitor. I'm Pat Bodner in Boston. Coming up, the self -proclaimed Bosnian Serb Parliament is said to have accepted the Vanzone Peace Plan with conditions, and President Clinton welcomes home troops from Somalia. You have demonstrated that the world is ready to mobilize its resources in new ways to face the challenges of a new age. And you have proved yet again that American leadership can help to mobilize international action to create a better world. I'm Rod McLeish in Washington, a new musical group from Madagascar takes Europe by storm. We'll have these stories and a summary of the day's news coming up this half hour. On the line with us from Bill

Great is BBC correspondent Clarence Mitchell. Clarence, what's the latest on the Parliament vote? This is monitor radio. I'm Rod McLeish. I'm Pat Bodner.

The world's news is dominated today by the tents down to the wire maneuverings to end the civil war in Bosnia, Herzegovina. According to an unverified news report from Tanya, the Yugoslav news agency, the self -appointed Bosnian Serb Parliament has conditionally accepted the Vanzone Peace Plan. Earlier in the day, there were reports from Moscow, where US Secretary of State Warren Christopher held talks with Russian President Boris Yeltsin and Foreign Minister Andrei Kuzarev. Russia told the United States it would send peacekeeping troops to Bosnia if rebel Serbs accepted the UN Peace Plan. Russia also implied it would back the use of force if the Bosnian Serbs refused. On the line with us from Bill Great is BBC correspondent Clarence Mitchell. Clarence, what's the latest on the Parliament vote? The latest reports that we have here in Bill Great are coming from the Tanya agency. These are unconfirmed by other sources yet, but they seem to be accurate. They are saying that a group of experts within the Bosnian Serb Republic Parliament have been

drafted a document on a conditional acceptance of the Vanzone Peace Plan for the former Bosnia Herzegovina. We understand that that document lists nine conditions for acceptance. The main conditions are the abolition of international sanctions against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia within three weeks. And it also asks for guarantees for the territorial continuity of the Bosnian Serb Republic. We understand that they are an actual fact asking for some form of land corridor to be established. The details of that haven't yet emerged. There is also a demand for the territorial division plan under the Vanzone Peace Plan to be amended to allow communities to become parts of other provinces on the basis of decisions which would be taken by referendums of the respective populations. There is also a demand that one of the provinces, province number three in northern Bosnia, which would under the Vanzone Plan be placed under Crow Act control, they

are actually in a range of some description. Is the West likely to accept such conditions, especially since the Bosnian Serb seem to have run out of political goodwill? That is very hard to say. On the face of it, I would think not. Clearly, the West appeared to be looking for an unconditional acceptance of the Peace Plan. And certainly, if any conditions were to be placed on it, they shouldn't in any way directly do anything to affect the Vanzone Plan. The suggestion that the Serbs are demanding a permanent land corridor of some description would on the face of it appear to fly in the face of the Vanzone Plan. So I would expect, but I have nothing to back this up yet, but I would expect that this would be rejected by the international community. I think they would feel that these conditions are too much. They are simply asking for too much. What's saying, yes, they are in effect, possibly saying no at the same time. We understand that the document

outlining these conditional proposals is about to be voted on at the Parliament. We believe they have gone into a short break, and within the next hour or two, certainly shortly, they will actually, the deputies there will vote on this plan. So technically, whilst they've drawn up the conditions in a closed session, they have yet to agree on them. So in theory, they may even say no to these conditions, but certainly the fact that they are talking about it would suggest that perhaps they will agree to this plan, whether or not the international community will theme that acceptable. We can only wait to see. I have just been given another report here, which I will let you know. This is what the Reuters Agency in Belgrade is now saying. The Bosnian Serb Parliament will accept the UN Backed Peace Plan for Bosnia on condition that UN sanctions against the Rump Yugoslavia are lifted. It said a decisive meeting of the self -styled Bosnian Serb Parliament would also demand a physical land length between Serb held territories in the former Yugoslav Republic. And Tanyuk is saying that the conditions were spelled out in a document drawn up by Bosnian Serb

experts in a closed -door meeting. So that would tend to suggest that the Tanyuk reports that we are getting are confirmed, but certainly the reaction of the West, who knows what it will be. Thank you very much indeed, BBC correspondent Clarence Mitchell speaking with us from Belgrade. Meanwhile, here in Washington, President Clinton met with congressional leaders of both parties to hear their ideas and to brief them on U .S. contingency plans for dealing with the Bosnian crisis. More from the White House in this report from Monitor Radio's John Palmer. Without referring to the situation in Bosnia by name, the President used a welcome home ceremony for U .S. troops returning from Somalia to hint at the role peacekeeping forces might play to end the fighting in what was once Yugoslavia. As we honor the service of those who have returned and those who did not, it is fitting that we reflect on what this successful

mission signifies for the future. This, the largest humanitarian relief operation in history has written an important new chapter in the international annals of peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance. You have shown that the work of the just can prevail over the arms of the warlords. You have demonstrated that the world is ready to mobilize its resources in new ways to face the challenges of a new age. And you have proved yet again that American leadership can help to mobilize international action to create a better world. After meeting with the President for more than an hour, congressional leaders voiced support for Mr. Clinton's Bosnia policy. Republican Senate leader Bob Doe. There's no disagreement here among the leadership on either side and the serve regime as opposed to the serve people should understand that. There will be bipartisan support. House Speaker Tom Foley. So I think there's a very great determination expressed that we have to

see to it that whatever the U .S. does, we stop the actions that are taking place in Bosnia. We stop the relentless killing of Bosnia and Muslims. And we believe that there's an international will to do that. And that we're going to find the appropriate means if necessary to see that that is done. Senate Minority Leader Bob Michael said the President needs to explain to the American people why what is happening in Bosnia should be of concern to them, especially if U .S. military forces have to become engaged there. The American people prepared for the worst case scenarios and I wouldn't say they were at this juncture. Quite frankly, many of them are not aware of the importance as we as leaders can see attaching to that particular conflict there. Later White House Communications Director George Stephanopoulos declined to say whether the President would seek the approval of Congress before sending U .S.

military forces to Bosnia, either as peacekeepers or in some other more involved military role. The President has not made any decisions yet on any final decisions, certainly planning is going on when he makes the final decisions. We will certainly move forward on the appropriate methods of congressional consultation. I would also add, as the President said earlier today, we have consulted with the Congress. He will continue to consult with Congress before any action is taken. He pledged that at the end of the congressional meeting today. The Congressional leaders were briefed on Secretary of State Warren Christopher's meeting with Russian President Boris Yeltsin in Moscow. They were told that Yeltsin pledged to commit his troops to a peacekeeping force, but like the leaders of France and Great Britain, stopped short of supporting President Clinton's military strategy if the war in Bosnia continues. For the Christian Science Monitor, I'm John Palmer in Washington. I'm

John Palmer in Washington, and I'm John Palmer in Washington, and I'm John Palmer in Washington. I'm John Palmer in Washington, and I'm John Palmer in Washington, and I'm John Palmer in Washington, and I'm John Palmer in Washington, and I'm John Palmer in Washington, and I'm John Palmer in Washington, and I'm John Palmer in Washington, and I'm John Palmer in Washington.

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I'm John Palmer in Washington, and and I'm John Palmer in Washington, and I'm John Palmer in Washington, and I'm John Palmer in Washington, and I'm John Palmer in Washington, and I'm John Palmer in Washington ,usi curious about the exact exact exact exact exact exact U .N. peacekeeping mission in Bosnia will be even bigger and carry much higher costs. U .N. Secretary General Boutros -Boutros -Golly told Security Council members this week it will take up to 70 ,000 troops to enforce the Vance -O &P's plan in the former Yugoslav Republic. Most of those forces would be provided by NATO countries, with almost a third of them coming from the U .S. While Boutros -Golly concedes that day -to -day operations of the Bosnia deployment will rest with NATO, most likely under a U .S. commander, the overall responsibility for the mission must remain with the U .N., especially since a non -NATO state, such as Russia, will be contributing peacekeeping troops. The U .S. would prefer the loose U .N. command structure it worked under in Somalia. While Boutros -Golly wants the authority to modify or stop the operation if necessary. What is very important, that this presence must be under

the control of the Security Council, because this presence will use the United Nations flag. Secondly, we intend to ask other members of the United Nations who are not participating in the NATO and the Atlantic pact to participate in this peacekeeping operation. The final numbers have yet to be worked out, but it's clear the U .N. is going to have a tough time coming up with the money to pay for its Bosnia mission. The organization is $2 .5 billion in the red. Thanks to member states like the U .S., which are way behind in their dues payments. Boutros -Golly hopes NATO will pick up most of the initial costs of the Bosnia deployment. International mediator Cyrus Vance bluntly points out that peace plan will fail if member states don't give the U .N. the resources it needs to implement the agreement. I think they must find the way to provide the funding because it is absolutely essential that we have the adequate forces to make sure that the implementation is carried out. And I hope and expect it will be done. Another

still undecided question is what kind of enforcement powers the NATO troops in Bosnia would have. U .N. peacekeepers now in the country can only use force in self -defense. International negotiator Lord Owen says that mandate would have to be greatly expanded, but NATO members are concerned about heavy casualties should their troops be required to use force if the peace plan starts breaking down. Diplomats say once all of Bosnia's warring factions have endorsed the Vance Owen plan, it would take about two weeks for enough NATO troops to be deployed to begin serious enforcement of the agreement. Several security council members say Bosnia's Muslims will need some kind of protection during that interim period. Then as well as you went on, Voidiego Aria is suggesting the creation of a series of safe havens that would provide better security guarantees than those worked out for the safety zone around the eastern Bosnia -Tano Shribanica. In its haste to protect Shribanica before it was overrun by Serb forces last month, the U .N. agreed to disarm most Muslim fighters and neglected to ensure that the Serbs would restore electricity and water to the community. So we have suggested

an interim arrangement, which these cities that we mentioned last week go rash the Jeb, Tuzla and Salahjev especially will be declared safe areas with the symbolic presence of the United Nations. The U .N. troops sent to those newly created Muslim safe havens would come from the current Bosnia peacekeeping force. For the Christian Science Monitor, I'm Mike Hale at the U .N. in New York. Last year, a musical group from Madagascar introduced a new pop sound to Europe and the reaction was explosive. The group is called Tureka Sami and it's now

touring the United States. Monitor radio's William Drummond caught the act during a performance in Berkeley, California and prepared our report. The name of the song is Pana Food. In the Malagasy language, it means three things, remedy, magic and a good luck charm. It's the title of Tureka Sami's first compact disc. That CD released last year has dramatically changed the lives of four youngsters from a developing country that's isolated and obscure even by African standards. Suddenly, people, I don't like, so use the word discover because it's always been there, but people suddenly realized that this is really a unique music which I've never heard before, but somehow it sounds familiar. Her name is Anj and she's the spokeswoman for the group because she's the only one who speaks English. All the performers go by nicknames because their full names are long indeed and a pronunciation barrier for the non -Malagasy.

Tureka Sami means literally Sami's group. Sami is the man who fashions the stringed instruments, sometimes out of sculptured wooden boxes and sometimes out of calabashes. The resulting music is a soothing mixture of sounds that combine African and Asian rhythms. BAME has been thrust upon the four young musicians quite suddenly. It all began last year when they toured England and recorded the fan of food CD there. Until then, they were not well -known even in their native Madagascar. Anj says the popularity of the CD has changed all that. We now are very much required outside Madagascar that there is very little time that we are in Madagascar, you know, but we would like to play there very much and probably we're going to do it

at the end of this tour, but the problem is we don't even have a concert hall where you can and we don't have eight microphones, which is the thing that we need to play. And this is one of our biggest hope, though, one day, maybe it's not going to be at the end of this tour, but one day, maybe next year, maybe two years, we're going to be able to bring a PA system, eight microphone, and we're going to set up and we're going to do this music because it's very important for us to play this back to the Madagascar people. Through one of those bizarre twists of technology, the CD recorded and released in Britain has served to introduce this Malagasy singing group to its own native country, where bootleg cassette copies, fashion by local entrepreneurs, are sold in the shop. When we came back with our record from the food, they were just like, went mad because they could not believe that the traditional instruments that we were playing could have sounded that good. And so we suddenly, like overnight, we became like pop stars, like

everybody just Tarika Sami, all the time, and they just wanted to play our music. The title of this song is Transport. The subject matter of Tarika Sami's songs is Everyday Life on the Island of Madagascar. Transport would seem like a mundane topic for a song, but aren't says it has a deeper meaning for Malagassis. In that particular song, talk about two villages, which is actually are really separated from each other because there's only two ways to get to each other, and that's either by aeroplane, and the other way is on a little very dangerous raft. So if you are afraid of that too, you won't get across. So these two villages, like kept isolated, and we found that very, very sad because the feeling

of closeness is very strongly Madagascar. So that's why we talk about it. Another song is for the rebarial ceremony, which in Madagascar is a festive occasion with much joy, dancing, singing, and feasting. Anj says Malagassi music is lacking in one specific subject. The only thing which really doesn't happen in our repertoire so far is is dream song. We don't dream a lot much. In fact, there is really very little dream if there is one, and therefore there isn't any love song in our repertoire. This doesn't mean we don't feel love, but I suppose we just go ahead and do it and really run some dream about it.

Tarek Asami has been touring US cities since mid -April. The group winds up in Burlington, Vermont on May 16th before setting off for Canada. For the Christian Science Monitor, I'm William Drummond in Berkeley, California. You're

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