ANNAN SUGGESTS INTERNATIONAL MONITORS SHOULD REMAIN ON PREVLAKA

NEW YORK, Jan 7 (Hina) - UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Friday suggested in a report to the UN Security Council that the UN mandate on Croatia's southernmost peninsula Prevlaka should be extended until July 15. He called on Croatian and Yugoslav authorities to continue negotiations on a permanent solution to the Prevlaka issue, "at least at the expert level". In the report, Annan said talks between Zagreb and Belgrade had been interrupted since March 9, 1999 despite both sides having had expressed the will for the Prevlaka issue to be solved through negotiations. Annan reiterated the assessment made in his previous reports that the situation in the UNMOP area "has remained stable and calm". He also noted one significant move by the Yugoslav side in the past six months, which is its withdrawal of troops from the demilitarised region. "Since Croatia does not have military formations in the demilitarised zone, the whole zone is now free of formed military units and heavy weapons for the first time since the commencement of the United Nation's monitoring in the Prevlaka region in October 20, 1992," Annan said in his report. The UN Secretary-General said the Yugoslav side was allowing full freedom of movement to UNMOP members while Croatia was requesting written announcements about the movements of their patrols. Annan's report was for the first time added a map in which Croatia's internationally recognised border with Montenegro is portrayed. (hina) lml mm