U.N. OBSERVERS LEAVE PREVLAKA ON SUNDAY

ZAGREB, Dec 14 (Hina) - Members of the U.N. Mission of Observers on Prevlaka (UNMOP) will on Sunday officially transfer authority over Prevlaka to Croatian government representatives, thus marking the restoration of Croatian sovereignty on the southernmost peninsula. #L# A ceremony marking the transfer of facilities used by U.N. troops will be attended by Prime Minister Ivica Racan, who will speak at the ceremony and tour the part of the peninsula where Croatian sovereignty is being restored. The completion of the UNMOP mandate was enabled by the signing of a protocol on a temporary regime along the southern border between Croatia and Yugoslavia. The protocol was signed by Croatian Foreign Minister Tonino Picula and his Yugoslav counterpart Goran Svilanovic at the Konfin border crossing last Tuesday. The protocol envisages joint patrols along the sea border and the demilitarisation of the border area which will stretch five kilometres into Croatian and three kilometres into Montenegrin territory. Interior Minister Sime Lucin, Health Minister Andro Vlahusic, Tourism Minister Pave Zupan Ruskovic and minister Gordana Sobol will also attend the ceremony. The departure of U.N. troops from Prevlaka marks the end of the last U.N. mission to Croatia. The UNMOP, which at the beginning was part of the U.N. Protection Force (UNPROFOR), and later of the U.N. Confidence Restoration Operation (UNCRO), in 1996 became an independent mission monitoring the area of blue and yellow demilitarised zones, access to which was restricted. The last U.N. mission to Croatia was the smallest U.N. mission in the world, consisting of only 27 military observers. (hina) rml