Bosnia Factions to Meet, Mediators Say

International mediators said the top leaders of Bosnia-Herzegovina’s warring ethnic factions agreed Wednesday to attend a new round of peace talks and stay until a settlement is reached.

There was no immediate confirmation from leaders of the war-torn republic’s Serbs, Croats and Muslims that they have accepted the invitation to the Geneva talks, due to begin Friday.

But a spokesman for the mediators--U.N. envoy Thorvald Stoltenberg and Lord Owen of the European Community--said that Bosnia’s Muslim president, Alija Izetbegovic, has agreed to meet with Bosnian Croat leader Mate Boban and Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic.

Earlier Wednesday, Izetbegovic said he would not attend talks unless the Serbs stopped a major offensive against Bosnian government positions on Mt. Igman on the outskirts of Sarajevo. The mountain controls the government’s only resupply route into the capital. Karadzic reportedly agreed to halt the attack but did not specify when.