UNPROFOR DISMAYED AT "CRUMBLING OF SAFE ZONES CONCEPT"

SARAJEVO, May 10 (Hina) - UNPROFOR's negotiations with Bosnian Serbs on the status of the Sarajevo airport are bogged down, UN spokesman Alexander Ivanko admitted today. Concern for these negotiations was the reason why UN special envoy Yasushi Akashi forbore to call for NATO air strikes against positions from which the Serbs had shelled the Sarajevo neighbourhood of Butmir, killing ten and wounding 40 people. Ivanko said the UN headquarters was waiting for a Serb proposal for the future functioning of the airport. When and if this proposal came, UN officials would consider it and set a date for new negotiations. According to Ivanko, these new negotiations could take place, at the earliest, next week - the fifth since the Sarajevo airlift was discontinued. Food supplies in Sarajevo were running low and humanitarian agencies had enough food just for one more round of distribution. The situation in Sarajevo had deteriorated to such an extent that the UN spokesman said UNPROFOR could "only hope" that its presence would somehow still the conflict. "The situation on the ground is getting worse and worse and we are faced with the crumbling of the whole 'safe zones' concept," Ivanko said. Military spokesman Gary Coward attributed the responsibility for the situation to the "warring sides." But he admitted that the Serb "stifling of Sarajevo" constituted a special form of pressure. "For a more determined action, we need instructions from the Security Council," Ivanko explained. He noted that UN Secretary-General, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, had requested the Security Council two months ago to issue full instructions to blue helmets on what was to be done in Bosnia. (hina) jn as 101556 MET may 95