SUSPECT ADMITS TO HAVING KILLED THREE HERZEGOVINA CROATS

MOSTAR, Dec 26 (Hina) - Muamer Topalovic, a member of two Islamic organisations in Bosnia-Herzegovina, has admitted to having killed "due to ideological and religious reasons" three Croats, members of the Andjelic family from Kostajnica near Konjic, Herzegovina- Neretva Canton Interior Minister Goran Bilic told reporters in Mostar on Thursday. #L# The lead the police used was a document of the organisation Jeniet el Forkan, which is financed by the High Commission of Saudi Arabia. "I have in front of me an act on the humanitarian organisation Jeniet el Forkan. That humanitarian organisation trained the person who committed the crime in the village of Kostajnica," Bilic said. He added that Topalovic was also a member of the Active Islamic Youth organisation which is believed to be connected with a series of incidents aimed against Croat returnees in Central Bosnia. Bilic said that in one part of the document which was used as the lead members of the organisation were instructed to commit acts against Croat returnees to discourage them at Christmas time. Bilic dismissed the possibility that the crime was committed by a mentally disturbed person. "He is a very intelligent person who knows what he did and what his goal was," Bilic said. The Kostajnica crime is probably the gravest crime committed since the signing of the Dayton peace agreement, Bilic added. The police believe that the perpetrator had planned the crime together with other persons and are investigating that possibility. The 25-year-old Topalovic was arrested last night in his house in Otelezani, three kilometres from Kostajnica. The police discovered in the house the "kalashnikov" which he used to kill the three Croats and the military uniform and the mask he was wearing at the time of the crime. His boots had the prints that matched those found at the scene of the crime. Other microbiological findings have also confirmed that he is the perpetrator, Bilic said. Asked if this crime could be connected with the setting on fire of a nativity scene in Mostar, Bilic said there were no physical connections although one of the three men arrested in connection with the incident was a member of the Active Islamic Youth as well. Bilic would not comment on yesterday's claims by Federation Interior Minister Ramo Maslesa that the murder was not motivated by inter-ethnic hatred and that seven people of different nationality were suspected of the crime. "Minister Maslesa is responsible for that statement," Bilic said. Andjelko Andjelic and his daughters Marica and Zorka were killed from firearms while his son Marinko was seriously wounded in their house in Kostajnica on Christmas Eve. (hina) rml