President Vojislav Kos tunica of Yugoslavia visited Sarajevo yesterday and pledged to work to establish the truth about the recent wars that have enveloped the Balkans.
Mr Kostunica, the first Yugoslav leader to pay an official visit to the city since it suffered a 3 1/2-year siege by Bosnian Serb forces between 1992 and 1995, has refused to apologise for the policies of his predecessor as president, Mr Slobodan Milosevic.
But he said he had discussed with Bosnia's inter-ethnic presidency the setting up of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to confront the "complicated and burdensome truth - because the truth can be burdensome - about what happened in this region".
"Nothing built on half-truths, manipulations or lies can last and that is why we will work on building such a commission for truth and reconciliation," Mr Kostunica said.
Mr Jacques Klein, head of the UN Mission in Bosnia, which oversees police and judicial reform, also backed the idea. "I think it's time we began to think about a commission or study to look at the whole process of reconciliation and how we can constructively move forward," Mr Klein said after talks with Mr Kostunica.
The three presidency members - the Serb, Mr Zivko Radisic, who is the current chairman, the Croat, Mr Ante Jelavic, and the Muslim, Mr Halid Genjac - gave Mr Kostunica a warm welcome, although Mr Genjac later slipped away, with a spokesman saying he had gone to Friday prayers.
Meeting in a ceremonial hall of the presidency building where the flags of Bosnia and Yugoslavia were draped over one another, all four men joined hands in a single handshake. It seemed to end a period of frosty relations after Mr Kostunica took over in Belgrade, when diplomats say the Muslim and Croat members of the Bosnian presidency refused to congratulate him on his election victory over Mr Milosevic.
Mr Radisic said the two countries, which established diplomatic ties last month and signed a protocol on co-operation between their foreign ministries yesterday, would open embassies in each other's capitals soon and start consular work this month.
A new inter-state council would meet in Belgrade next month and was expected to sign agreements on free trade, protection of investments and double taxation. Rail links would be restored immediately and preparations were being made to restore air links and scrap visas for each others' citizens.
There were also plans for a meeting between Croatia, Yugoslavia and Bosnia to discuss the Dayton peace agreement that ended the Bosnian war. "Bosnia and Yugoslavia are achieving a new quality of relations", Mr Radisic said.
Mr Kostunica, criticised by Bosnian politicians for comments they said put the Dayton accord in doubt, made clear he recognised it and Bosnia's borders, just as he thought the international community would recognise Yugoslavia's borders.
In other talks yesterday, Mr Kostunica and the international overseer in Bosnia, Mr Wolfgang Petritsch, discussed state-to-state ties, the return of refugees, "special relations" with Bosnia's Serbs and the need for more transparency in military co-operation, according to a spokesman.
Additional reporting by Daria Sito-Sucic in Sarajevo.