The Bosnian fighting has taken tens of thousands of lives, uprooted millions of people and adding "ethnic cleansing" to the world's vocabulary.

The Serbian Government maintains that it has been a bystander in the Bosnian fighting, sympathetic to ethnic Serbs who feared Muslim domination in an independent Bosnia and Herzegovina, but not provoking them.

Mr. Cosic, whose republic is indirectly involved in the Bosnian fighting, also said that a settlement "could be the seed for a different future for the Balkans."

In applying the Geneva Conventions to the Bosnian fighting, the criminal court early concluded that Belgrade's support was enough to make major portions of the conflict into an international war.

The community says it remains ready to act as mediator if conditions improve, and it is also studying whether economic sanctions might force the Serbian-dominated Yugoslav Army to disengage in the Bosnian fighting.

Adis has been asking when he'll next see his father, a Bosnian Muslim fighting with the local militia.

Moscow has resisted earlier efforts to change the balance in the Bosnian fighting.

Though public discussion at the United Nations remains diplomatically polite, mutual recrimination about the Bosnian fighting is becoming more common.

This cynicism, and the apathy it feeds, now cast a greater cloud on America's future world role than almost any possible outcome of the Bosnian fighting.

The mood among the fighters in Gorazde could also have an influence on the negotiations in New York on a peace plan to end the Bosnian fighting.