ANALYSIS : NEW BOSNIAN LEADERS CARRY OLD BAGGAGE WORLD COMMUNITY KEEPING TABS.

Byline: George Jahn Associated Press 

Now that Bosnians have elected the same men who propelled them into war, how can anyone expect peace?

The foreign diplomats who organized last weekend's vote were jubilant that it went off without violence in a country bloodied by conflict. But the results of the vote for Bosnia's three-man presidency raise sobering questions:

How can the top office function when it is shared by a Muslim who fought for Bosnian unity, a Serb ultranationalist who fought against it, and a Croat who acts largely on what is right for Bosnia's Croat minority?

Were America and its allies wise to revive the collective presidency and other political institutions that are remarkably similar to those that failed before the war?

Is the international community - which stood on the sidelines as Bosnia burned - now ready to knock heads together for years to keep a permanent peace?

Although the Dayton peace agreement envisions a democratic, multiethnic Bosnia, the newly elected presidents carry a great deal of nationalist baggage.

Muslim leader Alija Izetbegovic advocated ethnic diversity when he was elected president in Bosnia's first democratic elections in 1990. He remains committed to a unified Bosnia, but now favors Muslim domination as a question of survival for his people.Because he narrowly won the most votes overall, Izetbegovic will head the new collective presidency, and be the man the world deals with about Bosnia.

But he is supposed to govern together with the Serb member of the presidency, Momcilo Krajisnik - an ultranationalist who rose as a lieutenant to Radovan Karadzic, the former Bosnian Serb leader who has been charged with war crimes.

``Mr. No'' to international negotiators and ``The Eyebrow'' to his people, the bushy-browed Krajisnik remains a fervent supporter of Bosnian Serb secession, over which the country went to war.

Most Bosnian Serbs voted for Krajisnik not so he would harmonize with Izetbegovic and the Muslims, or the Croats. They chose him for his secessionist platform.

``The Eyebrow will certainly do a great job defending our interests and our state,'' said Bosnian Serb Bogdan Vukadin. ``Let Alija rule his own back yard, and we will rule ours.''

That leaves Croat member Kresimir Zubak as the wild card. But he, too, seems sure to make a priority of Croat interests - and those interests are dictated by neighboring Croatia.

Under pressure from Washington, Croatian President Franjo Tudjman now says he backs the Muslim-Croat federation that makes up half of Bosnia.But if Tudjman once again embraces the idea of Bosnian Croat secession, Zubak likely will follow. With two members of the presidency advocating a split-up of Bosnia, Izetbegovic would be odd man out.

The same tug of war - between separatists against unionists - paralyzed Bosnia's last elected presidency in 1990. Similar splits along ethnic lines also crippled the collective leadership of the old Yugoslavia. Consensus became impossible and war inevitable.

Even concerns about Bosnia's cohesion aside, the post-war government is clumsy, and could bog down in gridlock.

Any one of the three presidents can ask for a veto if he's outvoted 2-1. Under Dayton, the legislature of the Bosnian Serb substate can nullify decisions that the Serb member of the presidency opposes, and the federation legislature can nullify those opposed by the Croat or Muslim member.

But there are significant differences between now and 1990.

The international community is paying attention, and has a vested interest in making Bosnia's peace work.NATO muscle and Western money give foreign diplomats a stick and a carrot to encourage a unified, more democratic Bosnia.

Already, senior international officials have put together a ``quick-start'' package designed to reward cooperation with hundreds of millions of dollars in aid.

In addition, the two men most responsible for fomenting war - Tudjman and Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic - have made peace with each other, setting to rest the Serb-Croat conflict that started this round of Balkan war in 1991.

One of Izetbegovic's first acts as president will be to meet Milosevic and secure his recognition of Bosnia as an independent state.

Krajisnik and his backers may still want to secede from Bosnia. But since they currently lack any interested partners in Serbia, Bosnia's fragile unity may hold for the moment.