1.   The federation was seen as a building block toward a Bosnian peace plan also embracing the Serbs.

2.   The risk of new Muslim-Croat tensions stems from Muslim commanders who see the federation as a transition to creating a Muslim Bosnia, he said.

3.   The current standoff with neither war nor peace stands to benefit only those who would like to see the federation fail.

4.   The Moslem side sees the federation as one stage in preserving the integral republic of Bosnia within its internationally-recognised borders.