The pilot who flew the minister, Wing Commander N Harish, said Mr Fernandes was totally "at home" on board the plane.

BBC: Fernandes rides on 'flying coffin'

The warning from NATO ambassadors was in response to Friday's meeting between General Mladic and U.N. commander General Bernard Janvier.

CNN: NATO warns Bosnian Serbs: obey demands or face air strikes

But when the Canadian commander of U.N. peacekeeping forces in Rwanda desperately appealed for reinforcements to stop the killing, Washington, in particular, was not about to risk U.S. troops on another humanitarian mission in Africa.

NPR: Somalia: Decades of Unintended Consequences