ASSASSINATED DEPUTY INTERIOR MINISTER'S DRIVER NABBED IN BOSNIA

SARAJEVO, Sept 18 (Hina) - Bosnian Croat Zeljko Cosic, arrested by federal police officers on Sunday evening, was a close aide to and escort of the late Deputy Interior Minister Jozo Leutar. A spokesman for the UN mission in Sarajevo, Douglas Coffman, confirmed that the person whose apprehension was reported by Bosnia's Croat-Moslem Federation's Interior Ministry today was the driver of a car which exploded in March 1999 when Leutar lost his life in the blast. The International Police Task Force (IPTF) greets the apprehension of Zeljko Cosic suspected of being implicated in terrorist acts. We can confirm that he was Deputy Minister Leutar's driver, Coffman added. According to a statement the Interior Ministry released today, Cosic, with his fixed abode in Mostar, was arrested on 17 September near the border crossing of Doljani. The same source said he was nabbed as he was alleged to have committed terrorist acts in the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Following his arrest Cosic was taken to the Sarajevo-based cantonal court for further procedures. The Federal Interior Ministry's officials previously claimed that Zeljko Cosic was a key person that could help shed more light on Leutar's assassination. Immediately after the March 1999 explosion of the car which was driven by Cosic and in which Leutar was killed, Cosic left Sarajevo and came in Croatia. During his rare public addresses Cosic energetically dismissed allegations that he might know anything about assassins or that he might be implicated in the killing. The head of the UN mission in Bosnia, Jacques Klein, has several times promised that an investigation into Leutar's death will soon give results. The latest deadline for the completion of the probe, which has been lasting for one and a half years, is set for this November. Results of the investigation into the Leutar case will be made public before the election, Klein was cited by the Sarajevo media as saying. (hina) jn ms