Washington, 31 July 1997 (RFE/RL) - The White House is sending Richard Holbrooke, architect of the Dayton Peace Accords, back to Bosnia next week to press for better implementation of the peace agreement.
State Department spokesman James Foley said yesterday that Holbrooke and the State Department's Special Representative Robert Gelbard will lead a U.S. delegation to Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia to discuss U.S. concerns with Balkan leaders.
Foley said they plan to meet all the parties to the Dayton Accords, including the presidents of Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia.
He said they will emphasize that the U.S. expects to see concrete action on implementing all aspects of the Dayton accords, especially a provision on the arrest of war criminals.
Foley said the delegation plans to leave in a week on August 6 and that details of the itinerary are still being finalized.
Holbrooke, formerly Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs, left the government 18 months ago to take a job in banking in New York. But he was recently named U.S. special envoy on Cyprus and has been called back twice before to undertake diplomatic missions in the Balkans. U.S. officials said his experience and skill in dealing with Serbia's Slobodan Milosevic is particularly valuable.