'GLAS KONCILA': PEOPLE IN KNIN ARE STARVING

ZAGREB, Feb 1 (Hina) - According to Franciscan friars in the southern Croatian town of Knin, "several thousand people (in the Knin area) are living on the verge of poverty and many of them are literally starving," reads the latest issue of 'Glas Koncila,' a weekly issued by the Croatian and Bosnian archdioceses. In an editorial commentary, entitled "Does Croatia Want Life or Death?", and a report, entitled "People Here Are Starving," the weekly observes that the situation is difficult also in other places where refugees from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo and some Croatian regions have found shelter. Father Petar Klaric, the guardian of the Knin monastery of St Anthony of Padua, told the paper people were coming to the monastery every day, seeking help. Last year, about 1,000 Croats left Knin, he said. The weekly also reports that with the average age of its residents - 29 years - Knin is the youngest town not only in Croatia but in Europe as well. However, despite proclamations, over the past five years too little has been done for the town's economic revival, creation of new jobs and provision of normal living conditions for all residents, regardless of their nationality, the weekly says. (hina) sb rml