Given the brutal and remorseless nature of the war in Bosnia, the crisis over the arrest and extradition of two senior Bosnian Serb officers to face investigation of their suspected involvement in war crimes was bound to happen. What the Nato authorities trying to make the peace agreement work in its opening stages almost certainly did not expect, or want, was that it would happen so soon. There have been strong rumours that Dr Radovan Karadjic, one of the main instigators of the bloody Bosnian Serb campaign, has been able to move freely around the territory allocated to his people under the Dayton accords, though Nato has understandably evaded suggestions that for troops have deliberately failed to arrest him.
Entrenching the peace must be the first priority of all the participants in the peace agreement. Anything that makes likely a resumption of the fighting at a time of acute sensitivity on all sides must be scrupulously avoided. But it is equally important that there should be no grounds for presumed war criminals to believe that they will escape justice. The arrest by the Bosnian government of Gen Djordje Djukic and Col Aleksa Krsnanovic was more probably designed to test the readiness of Nato to carry out commitments on this issue, than to provoke a violent reaction from the Bosnian Serbs.
The decision to extradite them promptly to face the International War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague, reportedly made by the US representative, Mr Richard Holbrooke, conveys the right assurances, and may help to return the main emphasis to where it should be currently on building confidence in a lasting peace This means for the moment that the agreement by the Bosnian government, brokered by Mr Holbrooke, to arrest no more suspects without consulting the war crimes tribunal is of crucial importance.
On the Bosnian Serb side the reaction to the arrests has been mixed, but clearly hostile. The military authorities cut off contacts with Nato and the Croat Muslim federation, while civilian officials continued to co operate with Nato. But talk of "dangerous precedents" is a long way from a threat to abandon the peace. If Dr Karadjic, or Gen Ratko Mladic, who prosecuted the ruthless Bosnian Serb campaign, fall into the hands of Bosnian or Ifor troops in spite of Mr Holbrooke's assertion that the latter are "not going to go out on a search and capture mission" there will be more potential for disruption. But for the moment the assumption must be that the Bosnian Serbs, like the Muslims and Croats, have had enough of battles and accept that they are unlikely to strengthen their respective positions by going back to war. On all sides there are hotheads, as events at Mostar and random attacks on Ifor troops have shown, but they are not in control.