REORGANISATION OF BOSNIAN SERB SPECIAL POLICE FORCES COMPLETED

SARAJEVO, July 6 (Hina) - Special police forces which operate within the Bosnian Serb interior ministry have been reorganised in line with requests by the international community and put under the control of civilian structures, spokesman for the U.N. Mission in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Douglas Coffman, told reporters in Sarajevo on Thursday. Coffman said responsibility for controlling the work of Republika Srpska special police forces now rested with the international police (IPTF). At the time the war in Bosnia ended, Bosnian Serb special police forces were organised as an anti-terrorist police brigade which had several bases as well as heavy weapons including tanks, armoured vehicles and cannons. Its members were in charge of protecting Radovan Karadzic. The then peace forces' command in Bosnia assessed that the brigade was a paramilitary unit and it was therefore put under direct control by the Stabilisation Force and had the same treatment as the two entities' military forces. Over the past three years, the anti-terrorist police brigade of Republika Srpska was practically disbanded and the number of members of the current special police unit was reduced to 269, which is in line with standards in democratic countries. The reorganisation of the special police in the other entity, the Croat-Muslim Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina, was completed in 1996. Members of anti-terrorist police units in the two entities have the same powers and duties - high-risk arrests, anti-terrorist operations, and the prevention of organised crime. (hina) rml