ANNAN SUGGESTS THAT UNMOP MANDATE BE EXTENDED UNTIL JULY 15

NEW YORK, Jan 8 (Hina) - UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Tuesday proposed that the Security Council extend the mandate of the United Nations Mission of Observers on Prevlaka (UNMOP) until July 15. His brief report is not different than the past two reports from 2001, except for a proposal that 27 observers remain on Prevlaka six more months.#L# Annan stressed that Croatian and Yugoslav Foreign Ministers Tonino Picula and Goran Svilanovic agreed to establish an inter-state commission on the border at a meeting in New York last November. He expressed satisfaction with the agreement and the overall progress in relations between Zagreb and Belgrade. He reiterated his objections to the presence of the Croatian and Montenegrin border police in the demilitarised area and the fact that civilians were permitted to enter UN-controlled areas and cross the state border at two border crossings. Croatia on Monday invited the U.N. Security Council to declare that the United Nations Mission of Observes on Prevlaka (UNMOP) mandate would terminate on July 15, 2002. In a letter to the Security Council, Croatia's permanent representative with the U.N. in New York, Ivan Simonovic, said "Croatia is ready to accept the last extension of the UNMOP mandate for the next six months." The U.N. Security Council should discuss Annan's report on Thursday, and the decision should be passed by January 15. (hina) it