UN MISSION SEEKS THOROUGH INVESTIGATION INTO S. BOSNIA INCIDENT

SARAJEVO, Dec 4 (Hina) - The UN Mission to Bosnia has vehemently condemned an incident which occurred in Stolac on the night between Monday and Tuesday, announcing disciplinary measures against the police commander in the southern town. In a statement delivered to Hina in Sarajevo on Tuesday, the Mission says a group of extremists attempted to take apart a fence surrounding the site where a mosque demolished in the 1990s war is being rebuilt. That was an organised act intended to stir tension in Stolac, read the statement. One perpetrator was interviewed for assaulting a policeman, but the United States Mission maintains the local police commander has failed to carry out an investigation. Data gathered thus far indicate that no one was injured in the incident. There is no confirmation that firearms were used, as initially thought. The Herzegovina-Neretva Canton Interior Ministry said in a statement today a group of some 15 Croats used a chain-saw to tear down the wooden fence, before setting it on fire. The UN Mission expects the police and prosecutor in Stolac to track down, arrest and prosecute the perpetrators still at large as soon as possible. The Mostar regional office of the international community's High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina today also condemned the incident. The Stolac mosque was demolished during Croat-Muslim conflicts in 1993. Local Croats object to its reconstruction on its former location, maintaining it is the site of a Catholic church of four centuries ago, before the Ottoman authorities arrived in Bosnia. The spokeswoman for High Representative Wolfgang Petritsch's office in Mostar, Avis Benes, alluded to the possible replacement of some officials in Stolac or the appointment of a supervisor, for which the international community is authorised. The reconstruction of the Stolac mosque is in compliance with the law and those who think they will prevent it are wrong, said Benes. (hina) ha