U.N. PEACEKEEPERS IN BOSNIA AUTHORIZED TO RETURN FIRE

SARAJEVO, May 12 (Hina) - The commander of the UN peacekeeping force in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Lt. Gen. Rupert Smith, has issued an order authorizing peacekeepers to return fire to any possible attack. The order came following yesterday's attack on UN troops in Sarajevo when a French soldier was seriously wounded after being shot in the head by a sniper bullet. UN spokesman Gary Coward told reporters in Sarajevo today that it was a right decision at a right time. He said that the wounding of the French soldier was deliberate and premeditated, adding that it had not yet been established where the bullet had been fired from. UNPROFOR wanted to evacuate the wounded soldier by helicopter but Bosnian Serbs refused to guarantee the security of the flight. Serb liaison officer Col. Indjic told a UN official that the soldier should be evacuated by land. Coward said that this act was one in a series of examples of the Bosnian Serbs violating the Geneva convention. The seriously wounded soldier was evacuated by plane to France yesterday afternoon, after a several-hour delay. A UN fuel tanker was hit by small arms fire close to the Holiday Inn Hotel in Sarajevo, near the place where the French soldier had been shot. (hina) jn vm 121318 MET may 95