1 Kresimir Zubak, president of the fragile Muslim-Croat federation in Bosnia, on Saturday voiced pessimism about the federation's future.
2 Zubak, so far considered a moderate, said the Croats would not give in to the Muslims and insisted that unnamed top Muslim officials be replaced.
3 Other Bosnian Croat leaders previously have called for the resignation of Bosnia's Muslim president, Alija Izetbegovic.
4 The United States hopes to pressure Bosnian Serbs into accepting a peace plan for Bosnia by convincing them that their Croat and Muslim foes are united.
5 But the federation is on shaky footing. Bosnian Croats accept it only as a step toward confederation with the Republic of Croatia, which Muslims oppose.
6 At the request of the Bosnian Croats and Muslims, the Contact Group that devised the peace plan for Bosnia is to meet here on Sunday. Contact Group members are the United States, Russia, Britain, France and Germany.
7 Zubak, who has so far been considered a moderate, said Bosnian Croats might 'be moved toward a sort of compromise' only if some top Muslim officials are replaced.
8 'Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina are one geo-political space,' Zubak told The Associated Press in an interview. 'And confederation between the Bosnian federation and Croatia is the only solution.'
9 'There will be no giving in to the Muslim side.'
10 Bosnia's Serbs rebelled in 1992 when Muslims and Croats voted to secede from the former Yugoslavia. An estimated 200,000 people have been killed or are missing in the war.
11 Muslims and Croats fell out in 1993 over contested territories in central Bosnia. Last year, the United States got them to smooth their differences and form a federation.
12 Together, the two ethnic groups would control 51 percent of Bosnia under a map proposed by the Contact Group. Bosnian Serbs have repeatedly rejected the plan, derailing peace efforts while sporadic fighting threatens a shaky cease-fire.
13 Zubak suggested that Sunday's meeting, to be chaired by Assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke, might see new pressure on the Muslim-led government to re-start peace talks.
14 Those efforts so far have foundered on the Serbs' refusal to accept the peace plan verbally, and the government's insistence they do so.
15 Zubak indicated that the Bosnian Croats do not insist on Serb acceptance prior to new peace talks. That would leave the Muslims more isolated.
16 'The Muslim side has unrealistic expectations', Zubak said. Bosnian Croats 'end up having to pay the price for that.'
17 Since it was agreed on in March 1994, the Muslim-Croat federation in Bosnia has been little more than a peace accord.
18 Although they are no longer fighting with each other, Muslims and Roman Catholic Croats have failed to integrate their armies or civil institutions.
19 Tensions have led to predictions of renewed fighting between the two sides. Zubak said he did not see more conflict.
20 'But we are now standing on our own feet,' he said. 'And we will surely not lose anything more.'

Kresimir Zubak , president of the fragile Muslim - Croat federation in Bosnia , on Saturday voiced pessimism about the federation ' s future .
voiced pessimism
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