German troops to remain in Bosnia for 1997--Ruehe .
BONN 1996-08-24
Defence Minister Volker Ruehe said that German troops would stay on in Bosnia next year as part of an international force to ensure the establishment of peace , a newspaper reported on Saturday .
The current NATO-led peace force ( IFOR ) in Bosnia is due to return home at the end of the year .
But Ruehe told Bild am Sonntag in an interview that a " new and different mandate " for the troops would be agreed on for next year after the current mandate expires in December .
" After the ( Bosnian ) elections ( on September 14 ) the troops will start being reduced from the beginning of October from 60,000 to about 20,000 .
A completely new and different mandate will be agreed for next year , " Ruehe said .
" The defence ministers will begin negotiations for this at the beginning of September at a NATO meeting , " he told the newspaper in an interview , excerpts of which were released ahead of publication on Sunday .
" But we must avoid giving the impression this peace deployment in former Yugoslavia is being perceived in the long run as an occupation .
On the other hand we must prevent any return of war and massacres " he said .