MESIC SAYS BOSNIAN CROATS SHOULD SOLVE THEIR PROBLEMS IN BOSNIA

ZAGREB, Oct 16 (Hina) - Croatian President Stipe Mesic holds Bosnian Croats should solve their problems with the ways of electing members of parliament at the upcoming elections within Bosnia-Herzegovina institutions, the President's spokeswoman, Vjera Suman, said Monday. The Croat member in Bosnia-Herzegovina's three-man Presidency and president of the Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia-Herzegovina (HDZ BiH) Ante Jelavic, on Saturday forwarded a letter to Croatia's top officials - President Stjepan Mesic, Premier Ivica Racan and Sabor Speaker Zlatko Tomcic - appealing to them for their support to bids to alter the recently adopted rules about the election of deputies to Bosnia's parliament and the Croat-Moslem federal assembly. "The President holds that all problems weighing down on the Croat people in Bosnia-Herzegovina must be solved through institutions of the Bosnian system," Suman told Hina when asked for Mesic's comment on Jelavic's request. "The President has always advocated and is advocating Croat being a constitutive people on the entire territory of Bosnia- Herzegovina," she said. Ante Jelavic opposed a recent decision of the temporary electoral commission of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Bosnia-Herzegovina that Croat deputies be elected not only by Croats but also by Bosniaks and representatives of other peoples. The HDZ BiH has even threatened to boycott the elections, but gave up on the idea on Monday. Suman said Mesic hailed this decision, as he holds that this was not the right way to solve problems. (hina) lml