HVO SOLDIERS IN POSAVINA REGION EXPRESS LOYALTY TO NEW DEFENCE MIN

MOSTAR, March 29 (Hina) - The entire commanding structure of the Croat Defence Council's (HVO) Fourth Corps in Bosnia-Herzegovina's northern Posavina region has expressed loyalty to the new Defence Minister of the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina (Croat-Muslim entity), Mijo Anic, Fourth Corps commander Tomo Knezevic, recently appointed by Anic, told Hina on Thursday. Of the 33 members of HVO's Fourth Guard Corps command in the Posavina region, only two have left their posts in respect of the Croat National Congress's call on the disbanding of HVO units. Knezevic announced that today and tomorrow 1,200 HVO members in the Posavina region would receive salaries from the federal defence ministry, after which it would be known how many of them were loyal to Anic. Colonel Knezevic claims that while leaving the barracks, the HVO members in Posavina who denied Anic loyalty have taken all computer equipment with them to Croatia, where they lived. According to Knezevic, one HVO unit for liaison in Usora (central Bosnia) has expressed loyalty to Anic. HVO barracks in Herzegovina and Central Bosnia are almost completely empty, with a small number of guards safeguarding them. (hina) rml