21.  Ljubomir Podunavac, a government spokesman in the south, vigorously denied that joint forces of the army and police had entered the zone early.

22.  Moussa also praised a French proposal to send a joint military force to protect the U.N. safe areas of Gorazde and Sarajevo.

23.  Nevertheless, Sweden has joined the European Union, which is committed to developing a common defense policy and is working on a joint military force.

24.  Officers of the joint force said radical Chechen groups who oppose any deal with Moscow may be mounting attacks to try to wreck the peace accord.

25.  Officers of the joint force said radical Chechen groups who oppose any deal with Moscow may be mounting attacks to try and wreck the peace accord.

26.  Police officials refused to say how many troops and officers were being deployed, and it was not immediately clear when the joint force would arrive.

27.  Romania and Hungary plan to form a joint military force to help bring stability to the troubled Balkans, the Romanian defense ministry said.

28.  Russia wants to create a joint peacekeeping force with NATO in the former Yugoslavia, Defense Minister Pavel Grachev said Monday.

29.  Russia has been touchy about putting its troops under the control of NATO commanders and has insisted on a measure of autonomy in any joint force.

30.  Russian President Boris Yeltsin issued a decree forming the joint force after the recent attacks, the official said.