BIJELJINA, Bosnia -- Sounding a defiant tone for crucial U.S.-led peace talks, rebel Serb leaders decided Monday to press for the right to secede from a future Bosnian state.


The self-styled Bosnian Serb assembly said it wanted the right to hold a referendum on remaining within a united Bosnia a year after peace is achieved. It is highly doubtful Serb-dominated areas would vote to stay in the union because virtually all non-Serbs have been purged from such territory. The assembly also said it wanted control over part of Sarajevo, the besieged Bosnian capital.


Both demands are certain to be opposed by the Moslem-led government when U.S.-brokered peace talks begin Oct. 31 at Wright-Patterson Air Force base in the U.S. state of Ohio. There was no immediate reaction from the Bosnian government, but officials had anticipated a tough Serb stance.


Another potentially disruptive demand would allow multinational forces on Serb territory only with the permission of the Bosnian Serb assembly.


A U.S. peace plan envisions deployment of a NATO force to police any final settlement. It could include 20,000 U.S. troops as well as non-NATO forces from Russia and Islamic countries.


The tough negotiating stance suggests Bosnian Serbs still cling to hopes of seceding from Bosnia and joining neighboring Serbia, a goal that sparked war 3 1/2 years ago. Any Serb demands will require approval by President Slobodan Milosevic of Serbia, whose country is suffering UN sanctions for inciting Bosnian Serbs to rebel. Though Milosevic has since distanced himself from his former proxies, he is authorized to negotiate for them in the U.S. talks.


The assembly named a delegation of Bosnian Serb officials to attend the talks. It does not include their leader, Radovan Karadzic, who has been indicted by a UN war crimes tribunal and could face arrest outside Serb-held territory.