BOSNIAN CROAT OFFICERS REFUSE TO ACCEPT LOZANCIC'S APPOINTMENT

MOSTAR, March 19 (Hina) - Fifteen (15) high-ranking Croat officers in the army of the Croat-Moslem Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina have refused to accept the appointment of Ivo Lozancic as the deputy commander of the joint command of the federal army, who is thereby also at the helm of the Croat component in that army. On Monday they explained that they disagreed with Lozancic's appointment owing to his political engagement. Following last Wednesday's resignation of Lieutenant General Dragan Curcic from the federal army's deputy commander, the new defence minister Mijo Anic appointed Ivo Lozancic as Curcic's successor. Ivo Lozancic is a member of the New Croatian Initiative (NHI) and this party's deputy to Bosnia's House of Representatives. He was the war commander of Bosnian Croat units (HVO) in the central Bosnian municipality of Zepce. Lt. Gen. Curcic was the first high-ranking officer of the federal army to openly express his support to the Croat National Assembly (HNS) which recently decided to set up temporary self-rule in Bosnian Croat areas, labelled by the international community as self-styled administration. HNS is led by another Bosnian Croat party - the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ BiH). The fifteen officers issued a statement saying that they could not accept Lozancic's appointment as he was a founder and Vice- President of one political party and as he was appointed in the manner contrary to the constitution and was not confirmed by the civilian commander, i.e. the Croat member of Bosnia's three-man Presidency. Therefore he "has no legitimacy to represent the Croat people," they asserted The 15 high-ranking officers stressed that they were politically uncommitted and proved their value during the defence war, adding that being representatives of the Croat people they "express their loyalty to only legally elected representatives of their people." (hina) ms