PETRITSCH DISMISSES PROPOSALS ON THIRD ENTITY IN BOSNIA

MOSTAR, Feb 1 (Hina) - The High International Representative for Bosnia-Herzegovina, Wolfgang Petritsch, has dismissed proposals on the establishment of a third entity in the country, made lately by some officials of the Bosnian Croat National Congress. Attempts to establish parallel structures are doomed to failure, Petritsch told reporters during a visit to Mostar on Friday. After the Croat National Congress in spring last year established temporary self-government in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Petritsch replaced the president of the Bosnian Croat Democratic Union (HDZ BiH), Ante Jelavic, from all posts and excluded him from the political scene. Jelavic's case is a warning to all that such projects (Croat self- government of a third entity) will not succeed, the High Representative said. He promised that in the upcoming process of constitutional changes in the country he would personally see that the status of Bosnian Croats as a constituent nation is guaranteed throughout the country. Croats are not a minority but a constituent nation and they will have the same rights as the other two nations in Bosnia- Herzegovina, he said. (hina) rml