LONDON -- The UN is prepared to replace Western troops in Bosnia with Moslem troops if Britain and France pull out as a result of any lifting of the arms embargo, according to Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali.


"As long as I have a mandate from the Security Council to maintain a United Nations presence," Boutros-Ghali told BBC radio on Tuesday, "my role is to find the troops to replace the troops that will have withdrawn from the former Yugoslavia."


Replacement troops could be supplied by Moslem countries like Turkey and Pakistan, the BBC quoted Boutros-Ghali as saying.


This is the first time the UN secretary-general has backed keeping forces in the region if the embargo is lifted.


The United States has lobbied to lift the arms embargo against Moslem Bosnia, a move that Britain and France oppose. At present Britain and France supply most of the 23,000 UN troops patrolling the war zone, and they say their troops would be placed in danger if one of the parties to the conflict were to be exempted from the embargo.


"We believe it will not be a good idea for the UN to commit itself to lifting the arms embargo either this autumn or next spring," British Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd told reporters after meeting with Boutros-Ghali.


Hurd said he supports intensifying efforts to gain Bosnian Serb acceptance of the UN-backed peace plan instead. Bosnian Moslems back the plan, under which the Serbs, who now control about 70 percent of Bosnia, would be left with 49 percent. The Moslem-Croat federation would get 51 percent.


UN protection forces are guarding several declared safe zones in Bosnia, the site of a 30-month-old war between Serb rebels and the Moslem-led government. The conflict has left 200,000 people dead or missing.


Bosnian Moslems say they are helpless against Bosnian Serb attacks as long as they are included in the embargo.


Until now, Boutros-Ghali has opposed lifting the embargo. But he is under pressure from the U. S. and from NATO, which would like to intensify air strikes against Bosnian Serb targets.


Talks in New York between UN and NATO officials on air strikes were still deadlocked Wednesday, after officials met all day Tuesday without announcing agreement on a new policy.


Boutros-Ghali also defended the UN's military commander in Bosnia, Lieutenant General Sir Michael Rose, against the Moslem-led government's criticism that he was appeasing Bosnian Serb forces.


"I have full confidence in General Rose, Boutros-Ghali said in the BBC interview. "He has done wonderful work."


The expression of support followed calls from all eight political parties in Bosnia's Moslem-led parliament for the dismissal of the British general.


(AP, Reuters)