ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

SAMIR KRILIC

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP)—Muslim-led government and Serb troops moved into battle positions around Mount Igman before U.N. peacekeepers defused tensions Wednesday on the strategic peak overlooking Sarajevo.

A U.N. spokesman, Cmdr. Idesbald van Biesebroeck, blamed the momentary flare-up on a misunderstanding—an unannounced troop rotation. But the rapid reinforcement by both sides reacting to a perceived threat revealed the fragility of the U.N.-mediated truce on the mountain.

The Bosnian government, meanwhile, pleaded for international help to prevent an ‘‘enormous human catastrophe’‘ for its malnourished people this winter.

The government urged the United Nations to take control of the transport and distribution of gas, water and electricity—often used as weapons of war—and to open land routes for convoys carrying food supplies.

Bosnian radio reported nine dead and 40 wounded in heavy shelling by both Serbs and Croats of the Muslim sector of Mostar, where fighting has blocked many aid convoys to Sarajevo and central Bosnia. There was no independent confirmation.

Van Biesebroeck said U.N. observers first noted troop movements in the thousands by both sides on Mount Igman early Tuesday, indicating the combatants were preparing to clash.

He said the movement was caused by an unannounced rotation of government soldiers into the Igman area and was defused Wednesday in meetings that U.N. officials held with both sides.

Rebel Serbs wrested control of the mountain from government forces this summer. They reluctantly withdrew most of their troops last month to bring Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic back to peace talks, but left behind a small company.

The last arms smuggling route for Sarajevo’s outgunned government loyalists passes across Igman.

The U.N. spokesman said the flare-up of tension was symptomatic of the general anxiety in Bosnia, particularly Sarajevo, about the future.

‘‘Will the talks resume? Not resume? I think that’s why there is some tension,’‘ he said.

Peace talks ended abruptly last week when Izetbegovic refused to accept what he termed an economically unviable chunk of land surrounded by Serbs and Croats, who between them now control 90 percent of the country.

Mediators say they expect the talks to resume, but it remains uncertain when and how.

Under the plan to divide Bosnia into Serb, Croat and government-controlled states, Muslims would get about 31 percent of Bosnia. Izetbegovic wants more territory as well as secure access to a port on the Adriatic.

Izetbegovic, a Slavic Muslim, reiterated that in an address to the U.N. Security Council late Tuesday in New York.

Izetbegovic, who met President Clinton on Wednesday, also asked for a deadline for removal of Serb heavy artillery besieging Sarajevo and for the continued threat of NATO air strikes.

Last week, Clinton warned that the ‘‘NATO military option is still very much alive’‘ if Serbs resumed shelling Sarajevo.

Sarajevo has been mostly quiet in recent days. But Bosnian radio said eight people were wounded by a single shell landing in the suburb of Dobrinja and a 14-year-old boy was killed by a sniper. Van Biesebroeck reported some Serb artillery and mortar fire on Zuc, a hill north of the city.

Fighting continued to block attempts to get aid to thousands of refugees fleeing Muslim-Croat battles in central and southwestern Bosnia.

Up to 200,000 Bosnians are dead or missing after 17 months of warfare, and more than 2 million have been made homeless.