SPECIAL security precautions taken by NATO-led troops, and known as Operation Fear Naught, are likely to remain in place for at least a few days even if a site inspection dispute with Bosnian Serbs is resolved, NATO said.
Operation Fear Naught is the name of a pre-planned NATO operation to prevent hostage-taking on Bosnian Serb territory.
A NATO source said he doubted the operation would be suspended "right away even if the site inspection in Han Pijesak were a success".
"I think there would be a comprehensive review of the security situation first. There have been two fairly serious violations of the Dayton agreement on the Serb side in the past week or so. There'll be a careful look at what's going on."
The commander of the NATO-led ground forces in Bosnia, Lieut Gen Sir Michael Walker, said later he was in fact satisfied the site, which he inspected yesterday, was in order.
The plan required isolated NATO units to pull back to more secure positions and advised UN and other international agencies to move their foreign employees out of harm's way in Bosnia's Serb republic.
The operation went into effect on Monday when it seemed as though NATO might have to resort to military force to gain inspection access to a site at the Bosnian Serb army headquarters complex in Han Pijesak. "The implementation of Operation Fear Naught was conducted rapidly and successfully," Maj Brett Boudreau of NATO said.
"All isolated detachments have now been withdrawn into secure bases or reinforced to a practical size for security purposes. Operation Fear Naught continues..."
Maj Boudreau explained that only several hundred soldiers out of about 53,000 NATO-led troops based in Bosnia were affected.
A UN spokesman, Mr Alex Ivanko, reported yesterday that all UN police monitors and most UN police staff had moved to NATO bases on Serb territory or to UN bases on Muslim-Croat territory as a result of Fear Naught. More than 500 UN police and 22 of their stations were believed to have been affected.
. The Chief of Staff of the Irish Defence Forces, Lieut Gen Gerry McMahon, begins an eight-day visit to the former Yugoslavia today. He will meet the 79 Defence Force personnel stationed there and have meetings, including one with Lieut Gen Walker.