Moslems Gain,Truce In Tatters

SARAJEVO -- The commander of Bosnia's Moslem-led government troops said the tide of war had finally turned in their favor after they captured territory from Serb rivals during fierce fighting in central Bosnia."The war in Bosnia has reached its peak," General Rasim Delic said in an interview on government-controlled Sarajevo radio Sunday. "The Bosnian army now has the power to start a war of liberation."Bosnian government troops have been attacking a mountainous finger of Serb-held land in central Bosnia stretching south from the railroad town of Doboj for weeks, leaving in tatters a countrywide truce that went into effect June 10. Most of the area is part of Ozren mountain, territory the Serbs hold dear because of its 13th-century Orthodox monastery and historic churches. A UN spokesman, Major Rob Annink, said the government advance against the Serbs had nearly cut the finger in two. "The Bosnian government army seems to have gained some territory around Zavidovici, about three to four kilometers north, and they have practically closed the gap on the southern part of the Doboj finger," he said. "We also see the Bosnian Serb army evacuating their people north."Thousands of Serb civilians have left villages in the southern tip of the finger as government forces close in on their objective: a road linking the cities of Zenica and Tuzla. Control of the road would give the government a secure, all-weather supply line from the Adriatic coast into north central Bosnia. Bosnian Serb army reinforcements, including the crack Panther unit, were rushed to the area last week to try to stop the government advance. A UN spokesman said fighting east of Zavidovici continued at a lower intensity throughout Sunday. Many observers think fighting along the Doboj finger is merely a prelude to the real showdown: a battle for the Posavina corridor, a narrow strip of land linking Serb-held parts of western Bosnia and Croatia with Serbs in eastern Bosnia and Serbia. A British soldier was shot dead in a firefight with Serb troops Sunday night near the Moslem enclave of Gorazde in eastern Bosnia, the United Nations said. Private Shaun Richard Taylor, 20, was the sixth British soldier to die in Bosnia.