STILL NO AGREEMENT ON APPOINTMENTS OF HVO GENERALS

SARAJEVO, Jan 22 (Hina) - The chief commander of NATO's Stabilisation Force (SFOR) and the Bosnian Federation's Defence Minister on Friday discussed the appointment of new generals in the federal army, but failed to reach an agreement. The SFOR command said in a statement after the talks the proposed appointments submitted by the Croat side did not comply with the demands set in special instructions given to the authorities of Bosnia's two entities. The statement said federal Defence Minister Miroslav Prce must submit a complete documentation as soon as possible. SFOR commander Montgomery Meigs offered SFOR assistance to the federal Defence Ministry, as well as assistance from lawyers of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, to complete the whole process. SFOR spokeswoman Sheena Thomson told Hina the documentation submitted on Friday was simply incomplete. She said the SFOR still insisted on full compliance with issued instructions, and added Meigs hoped this would be done in the shortest time possible. The appointments of General Zeljko Siljeg as deputy commander of the federal army and of Zlatan Mijo Jelic as commander of the federal army's first guard corps, issued earlier this month by the office of the Croat member in Bosnia's Presidency, Ante Jelavic, met with harsh reactions from the SFOR. SFOR's members recently confiscated part of Croatian Council of Defence weaponry, threatening it would be destroyed if undertaken obligations were not complied with. SFOR explained that in making the appointments, Jelavic had not abided by regulated procedure which stipulates that prior consent from SFOR's commander is necessary in the appointment of officers in the rank of generals to commanding posts. Last week, Meigs and Prce reached an agreement confirming that the previously established procedure would be respected. The statement the SFOR issued today showed this had not been done. (hina) ha jn