HVO WEAPONS CONFISCATION CARRIED OUT IN LIVNO; KISELJAK

LIVNO, Jan 9 (Hina) - Saturday morning's action of the international Stabilisation Force to confiscate part of the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) military equipment was carried out at the Federation Army's first logistic base warehouse in Livno, southern Bosnia-Herzegovina, a high-ranking HVO officer Drago Mladinov told Hina. The action to confiscate weapons, radio devices and armoured personnel carriers, was also confirmed by the public relations officer of the Belgian-Luxembourg battalion in Tomislavgrad, Stefan Stearts. The unannounced operation started at 5.45am and lasted until 1pm. The SFOR command this morning issued a statement saying the action had been ordered by the SFOR chief commander, General Montgomery Meigs, as a response, as the statement read, to the unauthorised appointments and promotions of several HVO generals, done two days ago by the Croat member of the Bosnian collective presidency, Ante Jelavic. The confiscation of the equipment from the Livno logistic base was carried out without any incident, Stearts said. He added that the weapons from the SFOR warehouse were transported to the Tomislavgrad base of the Belgian-Luxembourg battalion. However, commander of the Livno logistic base, Major Mladinov, said that "the SFOR soldiers entered the warehouse, where M-16 rifles were held, forcibly, through the windows, having previously tried to break the door and without waiting for my arrival". Access to the site during the operation, which was carried out by some 100 international soldiers, was not allowed to anyone except SFOR soldiers, and all phone lines were disconnected. The road Livno-Mostar and all access roads to the town were blocked as well, Mladinov said. According to unofficial information, the SFOR carried out another confiscation action on Cubren hill near Kiseljak (central Bosnia). The international forces there confiscated HVO communications equipment (part of it necessary for the maintenance of civil communications), and most of the weapons and military equipment. (hina) rml