BOSNIA

By DOUGLAS WALLER AND MARK THOMPSON/WASHINGTON

Secretary of State MADELEINE ALBRIGHT and Defense Secretary WILLIAM COHEN are still feuding over whether American soldiers should remain in Bosnia beyond June 1998, the once hard-and-fast deadline for their departure. Albright wants their stay extended, fearing the Bosnian Serbs, Croats and Muslims will go back to slaughtering one another if U.S. forces leave next summer. Cohen and Congress want the troops out, with no ifs, ands or buts. Bill Clinton has papered over the dispute for the moment, ordering the Pentagon to draw up two sets of contingency plans: one for a June withdrawal, the other for an extended stay. But aides tell TIME the President won't decide until next month whether the troops leave or stay, and right now it looks as if he'll opt for their staying--although in fewer numbers than the 11,800 currently deployed.

--By Douglas Waller and Mark Thompson/Washington