THE United States said yesterday it did not recognise the firing by the Bosnian Serb leader, Dr Radovan Karadzic, of his moderate Prime Minister and pledged to work to keep him in office.
"We don't recognise Karadzic's authority to dismiss any official or to make or enforce political decisions", a US State Department spokesman, Mr Glyn Davies, said.
The Bosnian Serb Prime Minister, Mr Rajko Kasagic, who had been working to implement the Bosnian peace pact, was sacked by Dr Karadzic on Wednesday.
The decision was seen as a move by Dr Karadzic, indicted as a war criminal, to resist attempts by the international community to isolate him ahead of elections expected in September.
"We have worked with Kasagic over the last year and hope that he remains in office," Mr Davies said.
US officials, speaking on condition they not be named, said diplomatic efforts were under way to bring the Serbian President, Mr Slobodan Milosevic, on side in a drive to keep Mr Kasagic in office.
"We don't consider this matter closed," one official said. "We want to impress upon the parties of the Dayton accord that indicted war criminals cannot hold authority and must be served up", he said.
Mr Kasagic earlier rejected his dismissal and denounced Dr Karadzic as an "illegitimate president... leading our people into ruin".
Mr Kasagic's stance reinforced the international pressure building up for Dr Karadzic's extradition for trial by the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague, which has indicted him twice.
Nato heads were demonstrating support for Mr Kasagic in Banja Luka before following Germany's Foreign Minister, Mr Klaus Kinkel, to Belgrade to seek Dr Karadzic's surrender from Mr Milosevic.
Dr Karadzic's attempt to sack his pro peace Prime Minister has propelled his defiance of the Bosnia peace treaty to the top of the peacekeeping agenda. Political sources said the rift between Mr Kasagic's moderates based in Banja Luka and the hardliners, gathered round Dr Karadzic in Pale, was now too public to be repaired.
The EU's representative, Mr Carl Bildt, who led calls of international support for the Prime Minister told reporters the time had come for Mr Milosevic chief power broker between Serbs, to hand Dr Karadzic over.
The UN tribunal also indicted the Bosnian Serb army commander Gen Ratko Mladic. But the immediate pressure was for the surrender of Dr Karadzic, who enjoys nothing like Mr Mladic's popularity among Serbs and would be easier for Mr Milosevic to send to The Hague.
Mr Kasagic said he would remain Prime Minister until a new government was elected.
UN sanctions imposed on Mr Milosevic for 3 1/2 years for his role in fomenting the Bosnian war have been suspended, but they could be restored if the West suspects he is breaking commitments to the peace process.
The real reason for Mr Kasagic's dismissal, a political source said, was his growing independence from Dr Karadzic and parliament speaker, Mr Momcilo Krajisnik, another hard liner.
France expressed its concern yesterday over the sacking.
"France reminds the Bosnian Serb Republic that the (Dayton) peace agreement requires that it listen instead to those representatives considered responsible and acceptable by the international community," foreign ministry deputy spokesman, Mr Doutriaux, said.