BOSNIA TO GET ARMED FORCES GENERAL STAFF ON STATE LEVEL

SARAJEVO, May 23 (Hina) - The highest ranking officers in Bosnia- Herzegovina's entity armies on Friday reached an agreement to set up a civil command and general staff for the armed forces which would act on the state level in the future. #L# The commanders of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Federation Army, General Atif Dudakovic and General Ivica Zeko, and the commander of the Republika Srpska Army, Cvetko Savic, confirmed Friday that Bosnia would in the future have a single general staff while the existing entity general staff would be abolished. The agreement was achieved with the mediation of the SFOR commander-in-chief, U.S. General William Ward. After the meeting, General Ward explained to journalists that the agreement meant a stronger role of the Standing Committee on Military Matters (SCMM) which is an alternative for a defence ministry in Bosnia. The establishment of a uniform command and supervision over the armed forces was a fundamental condition for Bosnia-H to NATO's Partnership for Peace programme. In line with the decision of High Representative for Bosnia- Herzegovina, the country needs to re-organise the system of command and supervision over the armed forces before the end of the year so that the implementation of the new model can start up by January 1, 2004. (Hina) sp it sb