BOSNIAN CROAT OFFICIAL: SITUATION IN BOSNIA IS DETERIORATING

MOSTAR, Oct 30 (Hina) - The political, social and security situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina has been deteriorating, the president of Bosnia's Croatian Peasants' Party (HSS) and president of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Assembly, Ilija Simic, said at a press conference on Tuesday. The situation is particularly difficult in Stolac and Zepce, Simic said. Bosniak (Muslim) municipal officials in the southern town of Stolac have requested the appointment of an international supervisor for the town. Local Croat officials have opposed the request, warning that the appointment of an international supervisor would mean the introduction of a state of emergency in the town. Fifty percent of the town's pre-war Bosniak residents have returned to their homes so far, with 3,000-4,000 Croat refugees from central Bosnia having settled in the town in the meantime. The latest tensions between Croats and Muslims in the central town of Zepce were caused by a request by the canton court that an investigation be launched against 15 local Croats who are suspected of war crimes against non-Croats. A recent attempt to arrest two of those suspects failed. Zepce Croats have organised several protest rallies opposing the court process, objecting that some judges in the process used to be members of the Army of Bosnia-Herzegovina during the war. Croat officials from Zenica-Doboj Canton have threatened to boycott the work of the cantonal bodies of authority and leave them if the court continues to insist on the trial of the 15 Croats. (hina) rml