2 BOSNIA CROAT POLICEMEN SACKED DUE TO SUPPORT TO ASSEMBLY 'HNS'

SARAJEVO, March 9 (Hina) - Two Bosnian Croat police officers on Friday were relieved of their duties owing to their participation at the March 3 session of the Croat National Assembly in Mostar, when it proclaimed temporary self-rule in the Bosnian areas mainly populated by Croats. "They gave their active support to the declaration (of the Assembly) on the establishment of unconstitutional and parallel structures in Bosnia...and took part in an illegal attempt to obstruct the constitutional order of the Federation and of the state," said a statement from the U.N. mission in Bosnia. According to the statement, the International Police Task Force (IPTF) commissioner Vincent Couerderoy decided to sack Ilija Sljivic, the superintendent of crime police department in Livno Canton (south-western Bosnia) and Ante Pranjic, the deputy interior minister of the Tuzla Canton (north-eastern Bosnia). Sjivic and Pranjic are permanently barred from carrying out any police task. The United Nations mission's head, Jacques Klein, expressed hope that the move would send a clear message to all police that illegal conduct would no longer be tolerated. (hina) ms