British troops barred from Gorazde

SARAJEVO (AP) - About 160 British peace-keepers were still blockaded yesterday by Bosnian Serbs preventing them from reaching the town of Gorazde and strengthening the UN contingent there, a UN spokesmen said.

The blockade reflects mounting tensions between the Serbs and UN troops, and the increasing willingness of Serbs to challenge the peace-keepers. French and Ukrainian reinforcements arrived in Gorazde on Monday. But the British soldiers remained stuck in Rogatica, about 25 miles north of the Muslim town, said the spokesman, Commander Eric Chaperon.

Bosnian Serbs yesterday agreed to the UN posting military observers around the northern town of Brcko, where analysts fear the next big battle will take place, said Yasushi Akashi, the UN's special envoy in former Yugoslavia, after meeting Radovan Karadzic, the Bosnian Serb leader.