SARAJEVO, Feb 5 (Hina) - The international community's High Representative to Bosnia-Herzegovina has decided to impose arbitration proceedings for the demarcation of the Inter-Entity Boundary-Line (IEBL) between the two Bosnian
entities - the Republic of Srpska and the Croat-Moslem Federation - in the Sarajevo residential area of Dobrinja.
SARAJEVO, Feb 5 (Hina) - The international community's High
Representative to Bosnia-Herzegovina has decided to impose
arbitration proceedings for the demarcation of the Inter-Entity
Boundary-Line (IEBL) between the two Bosnian entities - the
Republic of Srpska and the Croat-Moslem Federation - in the
Sarajevo residential area of Dobrinja.#L#
On Monday, HR Wolfgang Petritsch said he opted for arbitration
after local authorities of the two entities failed to agree on the
matter for the last five years, since the signing of the Dayton
peace accords.
It is a concrete indicator of the extreme irresponsibility of local
authorities, Petritsch told reporters, explaining that the failure
to settle the matter for five years affected a large number of
people who could not exercise their civil and property rights and
come back to their homes in this suburb.
During peace negotiations conducted in Dayton, USA, in late 1995, a
boundary-line between the future two entities was established.
Detailed maps, which were subsequently drawn up on the ground, led
to a series of illogical things.
As regards the line, all disputable issues, except Dobrinja, were
solved in subsequent years.
In this residential area, where many blocks of flats were built in
the 1980s, prior to the war, the division line remained de facto the
war's front-line. For instance, it divides flats in the same block
or it divides rooms in a flat, so that the sleeping room happens to
be in the Federation, and the bathroom in the Serb entity.
Several hundred flats have had such status, being in limbo for five
years. This hampers their pre-war owners in returning.
The arbiter in this case is an Irish retired judge, Mr. Diarmuid
Sheridan.
He is expected to make a final decision on Dobrinja in the next three
months. Until then, the NATO-led international peace troops in
Bosnia (SFOR) will tighten their control over the area and
attentively follow the developments. SFOR will help implement the
final verdict, SFOR deputy chief commander, Richard Dannat, told
the news conference.
Thus far, arbitration has settled the issue of the north-eastern
town of Brcko, which has gained the status of special district, and
that of new boundaries of the central Bosnian municipality of
Zepce.
(hina) ms