MINISTRY: AUXILIARY BISHOP GASPAROVIC WILL BE ALLOWED TO LEAVE YUGOSLAVIA

ZAGREB, April 9 (Hina) - Croatia has received assurances from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia that the detention of Auxiliary Bishop Djuro Gasparovic in Yugoslavia as a conscript is a misunderstanding, a Croatian Foreign Ministry's spokesman told Hina on Friday. "Croatia has been given assurances that the problem will be solved very soon and that it is a misunderstanding", spokesman Zeljko Trkanjec said. The Zagreb daily "Jutarnji list" on Thursday reported that the Auxiliary Bishop of the Djakovo-Srijem Diocese, Djuro Gasparovic, had encountered problems in trying to return to Croatia from Yugoslavia because Yugoslav authorities considered him a conscript. The Djakovo-Srijem Diocese includes the region of Srijem, located partly in eastern Croatia and partly in north-western Yugoslavia. Having learnt about the case, the Croatian Foreign Ministry strongly protested with Yugoslav Ambassador to Croatia Veljko Knezevic. "The Yugoslav side told us that Gasparovic would not be mobilised", Trkanjec said. Gasparovic entered Yugoslavia last week to celebrate Easter with the faithful and is still there. He has both Croatian and Yugoslav citizenship and, according to Yugoslav regulations, is subject to military service. (hina) rml