Bosnia Rivals Again Agree to Cease-Fire : Balkans: Most deals have quickly shattered. But coming winter weather may work for peace.

ZAGREB, Croatia â€”  Rival commanders in Bosnia-Herzegovina announced agreement on a cease-fire Tuesday, raising hopes that on the cusp of winter this latest truce will take hold where numerous others have failed.

The decision to halt hostilities was reported by both the Bosnian Serb news agency, SRNA, and an independent Sarajevo radio station loyal to the ravaged republic’s Muslim-led government.

“We are ready to stop the hostilities as soon as possible and to start political negotiations immediately,� SRNA quoted Serbian military commanders as saying.

Sarajevo-based officers of the U.N. peacekeeping force in the region confirmed the accord in a cable to Zagreb headquarters late Tuesday, said mission spokeswoman Shannon Boyd.

The field report said the agreement will take effect at midnight tonight and will apply throughout the republic.

More than a dozen previously announced cease-fires were shattered within hours of their signing, and fierce fighting in the remaining government-held areas of Bosnia this week has offered little encouragement that the newest accord will endure.

But with the heavy snows and frigid temperatures of the Bosnian winter imminent, Serbian rebels who have already conquered 70% of the republic, Croats who control most of the rest, and Muslims riding out the sieges in homes without heat, windows or water all seemed ready to call a halt to the shooting.

U.N. mediators who have repeatedly failed to broker peace among the Bosnian combatants cautiously hailed word of the agreement. “The co-chairmen of the Geneva conference welcome the unconditional cease-fire declared today in Sarajevo by the military commanders of the three parties to the conflict in Bosnia-Herzegovina,� said a statement issued in Geneva by U.N. special Yugoslav envoy Cyrus R. Vance and the European Community mediator, Lord Owen. “The international community expects all three sides to live up to their commitment.�

Boyd described the agreement as a terse, one-sentence declaration and expressed surprise that it had been produced in negotiations among the fractious military chiefs, who, as of Monday, had found little common ground at U.N.-mediated talks.

Although the predominantly Muslim government forces signed the new truce, the leadership’s reaction was less than euphoric. “Very nice, no shooting anymore. The Serbs are not doing very well around Mostar, so they want a cease-fire and we have accepted it,� Vice President Ejup Ganic, a Muslim member of the Bosnian leadership, was quoted as saying in a Reuters news agency dispatch from Sarajevo.

The announcement followed a truce offer earlier in the day by the Bosnian Serb army, which has not only conquered much territory but has also expelled most Muslims and Croats from it. SRNA said the army is prepared for immediate peace and the start of negotiations on the battered republic’s future.

Bosnian Croats, who make up only 17% of the former republic’s population of 4.4 million but now hold nearly one-third of its land, have also indicated their readiness for an accord that would essentially preserve the status quo.

But the Slavic Muslims, who were the largest ethnic group in Bosnia before falling victim to the vilified practice of “ethnic cleansing,� have resisted ethnic division of Bosnia, their only homeland. Most of the 14,000 confirmed dead, 60,000 missing and nearly 2 million displaced by the war have been Muslim civilians.