CROAT NATIONAL ASSEMBLY DISMISSES ACCUSATIONS OF US EMBASSY

MOSTAR, March 5 (Hina) - The Croat National Assembly of Bosnia- Herzegovina (HNS) on Monday rejected statements of the United States Embassy which a day earlier warned that Washington would not allow the blocking of the peace process in the country and tolerate attempts to implement unconstitutional and anti-Dayton conclusions endorsed by the HNS at a session in the southern Bosnia- Herzegovina's town of Mostar on Saturday. "We are not changing the Constitution, or the Dayton Agreement. The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) embarked on this adventure of changing the Constitution, to the disadvantage of the Croat people in Bosnia-Herzegovina, forcing us to defend ourselves this way," read a statement issued by the HNS. The HNS stressed it would not participate in "such illegal and unconstitutional institutions." The statement also read that "Croats de facto cannot solve their problems through the current institutions, because they are not legal, considering that they were not constituted in line with the Constitutions of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Federation of Bosnia- Herzegovina." The HNS stressed that Croat representatives were "ready for dialogue with the international community on the principles of respect for the Constitutions of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina, respect for the Dayton Agreement and the political will of the Croat people expressed at democratic elections." Croatian Prime Minister Ivica Racan and President Stipe Mesic on Monday condemned the establishment of the Bosnian Croat self- government. (hina) it